Banana sustainability, a challenge that brings together Ecuadorian exporters and EU

Guayaquil (Ecuador), Oct 24 (EFE).- Ecuador’s banana sector, a world leader in exports, has shown the European Union (EU) its efforts to comply with the demanding European regulations on sustainability, quality, environment, and compliance to bring this premium product to European supermarkets. However, it is not always rewarded in retail pricing.

As part of the 21st Banana Time, the banana industry’s largest international convention, held annually in Guayaquil (Ecuador), an EU delegation visited Wednesday one of the farms that produce organic bananas for export.

In 2023, the EU was the main destination for Ecuadorian bananas with exports worth more than 1 billion dollars, which accounted for about 30% of the more than 3.5 billion dollars that Ecuador sold globally.

The Netherlands, Germany, and Italy are among the largest European markets are account for more than half of Ecuador's banana shipments to the EU.

Two of the three countries that consume the most bananas per capita are European. Germany is the highest with 16.17 kilograms per person per year, followed by the United States with 13.9 kilograms, and Italy with 13.16 kilograms, according to the Banana Statistical Observatory of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE).

The European delegation, led by the EU ambassador in Ecuador, Jekaterina Dorodnova, met with the Banana and Plantain Cluster of Ecuador and later toured the Hacienda Celia Maria, located in the southern coastal province of El Oro and belonging to AEBE President Jorge Encalada.

Commitment and concerns

The industry leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the EU sustainable development policies but expressed their concerns about the growing demands for traceability and product origin certifications, which require producers to invest in these systems, such as the Due Diligence Law.

At the same time, some supermarket chains in European countries sell the product below its real value to attract customers to their stores. This is something that AEBE Executive Director and of Banana and Plantain Cluster of Ecuador coordinator José Antonio Hidalgo says gives a wrong image of low quality and not paying fair wages, which is contrary to reality.

“We are making an effort to adapt to all their regulations, but they have to make an effort to communicate to the consumer what we are doing, and the true cost of sustainability,” Hidalgo said.

“We cannot be inconsistent and say you have to comply with new requirements or certifications but I have to pay you less (...) For us it means a big problem that has been dragging on for a long time,” he added.

For Hidalgo, the European delegation was able to verify with their own eyes that “Ecuador is ready to expand its volume for the EU, with compliance with the Green Deal regulations and the “From Farm to Fork” strategy (...), but supermarkets must compensate with fair prices for all banana producers.”

“As more regulations and certifications are demanded, there has to be a shared responsibility for that,” he concluded.

Very good impression, says EU Ambassador

After visiting Hacienda Celia María, Dorodnova told EFE that she had “a very good impression,” highlighting the cleanliness she saw in the banana treatment process and the presence of “many women working (...) this generates employment and in this particular hacienda a living wage is paid,” she said.

The ambassador explained that, with the Due Diligence regulation, “the European market wants to ensure that the product that enters (the EU) is free of child labor and that it complies with respect for human and labor rights, and ILO (International Labor Organization) and the EU standards.”

“That is why it is important to make sure that in banana production everything is right,” Dorodnova said.

In that sense, she said that she would like to visit “other farms of medium and small producers, who face perhaps more serious challenges.”

“In Europe, we are proud that a large percentage of exports come from small and medium-sized producers,” she added.

The new European regulations and their impact on the market are one of the topics being discussed at Banana Time Guayaquil, in which AEBE brings together from October 23 to 25 the main players in the banana industry in Ecuador and other Latin American countries. EFE

European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ecuador Jekaterina Dorodnova looks at bananas during a visit to the banana plantations of Hacienda Celia Maria, in the canton (municipality) of Pasaje, in the southern coastal province of El Oro (Ecuador). EFE / Mauricio Torres

European Union Ambassador to Ecuador, Jekaterina Dorodnova (2-l), the vice president of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), Marianela Ubilla (c), the head of the Economic and Trade Section of the European Union Delegation in Ecuador, Christophe De Vroey (2-r), and AEBE President Jorge Encalada (r), speak during a visit to the banana plantations of Hacienda Celia Maria, in the canton (municipality) of Pasaje, in the southern coastal province of El Oro (Ecuador). EFE / Mauricio Torres

The vice president of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), Marianela Ubilla (l) and the European Union (EU) ambassador to Ecuador, Jekaterina Dorodnova (r), walk through the facilities of Hacienda Celia Maria, in the canton (municipality) of Pasaje, in the southern coastal province of El Oro (Ecuador). EFE / Mauricio Torres