Banana

Banana HIT

Banana is one of the oldest food crops. For many tropical countries, it is the most important food product and the main export item. Banana fruits have a high nutritional value, contain a large amount of vitamins and trace elements.

Ecuador is the world's main exporter of bananas. According to the research of the IndexBox company, its share in global shipments exceeds 18%. In spite of the fact that most bananas are grown in India (25%), most of them remain on the domestic market.

Ripe bananas are a popular product in many countries of the world. Russia is one of the world's three largest importers of bananas (after the USA and China). In our country, bananas are bought almost as often as potatoes. According to GfK, in 2020, Russian families bought these tropical fruits on average 13 times, potatoes – 14 times, carrots – about 9. Together with apples and citrus bananas are among the top 3 most popular fruits in Russia, accounting for about 70% of total consumption.

Absolutely all bananas are imported to Russia from South America. According to RBC, 96% of imports (1.46 million tons) in 2020 fell on Ecuador. Only 52 thousand tons were imported from Costa Rica, Colombia and Guatemala in the same year.

The range of the Royal Fresh company includes Cavendish bananas from Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala. The supply season is year–round.


countryvarietyclasssizepackaging
Ecuador

Cavendish

1 class Cardboard box 19.4 kg (net weight)/ 20.6 kg (gross weight)
Guatemala

Cavendish

1 class Cardboard box 19.4 kg (net weight)/ 20.6 kg (gross weight)
Costa Rica

Cavendish

1 class Cardboard box 19.4 kg (net weight)/ 20.6 kg (gross weight)

Beneficial features:

THE NUTRITIONAL VALUEMICROELEMENTS (100g):VITAMINS (100 g):

Fats – 0.5g
Proteins – 1.5 g
Carbohydrates – 21 g
Sugar – 19g
Fiber – 1.7 g
Energy value: 96 kcal

Potassium –348 mg
Calcium – 8 mg
Magnesium – 42 mg
Phosphorus – 28 mg
Sodium – 31 mg
Iron –   0.6 mg
Zinc - 0.25 mg

A – 20 mcg   
B1 – 0.04mg
B2 –0.05 mg
C –10 mg 
E – 0.4 mg
B3(PP) – 0.9 mg
B6-0.37mg    
B9- 0.6 mcg
K– 0.5 mcg

Varieties:

Today, about 500 varieties of bananas are known, which are divided into three subtypes: dessert, platano (or plantano – culinary), decorative with inedible fruits.

However, mainly only three varieties are delivered to Russia, which are best tolerate for transportation. Bananas for export are plucked green, after that they undergo special processing and ripen.

  • "Cavendish" is a group of varieties whose fruits reach from 15 to 25 cm in length. When the fruit is ripe, the peel of Cavendishes is yellow, with small brown inclusions.
  • "Finger" bananas (or baby bananas) - such fruits do not exceed 10 cm in length, they are sweeter and differ by a thinner peel.
  • Red bananas are smaller in size than classic ones, the taste is more intense, with raspberry notes. The content of beta-carotene is increased in the peel – hence the unusual color.

Country of Origin:

Ecuador. For Ecuador, Russia is the second largest buyer of its bananas after the EU: according to RBC, for seven months of 2022, Ecuadorian exporters supplied 22.25% of all bananas sent abroad to the Russian market. For comparison, 26.67% of all deliveries (62.53 million boxes) went to the EU. At the same time, bananas from Ecuador account for 96% of all imports in Russia. In natural volumes, Ecuadorian exporters delivered 1.4 million tons of bananas to Russia in 2021. In 2022, this figure decreased due to the geopolitical situation.

Guatemala. It ranks seventh in the world in terms of the volume of the bananas cultivation according to 2020. It takes the third place among importers of bananas to Russia (after Ecuador and Colombia). In 2021, the volume of supplies amounted to more than 20 thousand tons worth more than $ 15 million.

Costa Rica. It ranks tenth in the world in terms of the volume of the bananas cultivation according to 2020. It completes the four main Russian banana exporters. The total volume of supplies according to 2021 is 10 thousand tons worth more than $ 7 million.