The Fyffes Banana Story - Cultivation and Distribution
The bananas we eat today have no seeds, so new plants must be grown by vegetative reproduction i.e. from planting “seed” bits of rhizomes cut off from the parent. A relatively new process called “meristem culture” however, allows hundreds of new plants to be reproduced from its growing tip from a single cell of a single parent plant from its growing tip. Such cells are allowed multiply in culture and they grow into new plants that are disease free. This provides a reliable and very quick method of propagation.
A banana plant takes less than 18 months to grow from a small shoot to the point where its fruit is ready for harvesting. It will produce only one “stem” of bananas per plant – once these have been cut, the stem dies back and rots back into the soil, but a new shoot from the rhizome will have engaged so the cycle of life continuous.
The bananas are cut from the plant whilst they are still green – if they were left to ripen on the plant they would be over ripe and inedible by the time that they reached their market, which is quite likely to be on the other side of the globe. The green fruit is removed from the stem and washed in gigantic cold water baths. This dislodges any insects and plantation debris and cools the bananas down and helps remove any latex present when the fruit is cut from the plant. Because fruit is alive unlike, for example meat, it continues to produce its own heat as it ripens. Even after it has been harvested, the race is on to keep the fruit cool so that it doesn’t ripen during the ocean voyage. Once it has been washed and packed into cardboard boxes, it is palletised and lifted gently into the ship’s temperature controlled hold.
After the ocean voyage from the tropics, the bananas are unloaded from one of our 15 ships and taken without delay to a ripening centre. These centres house a number of ripening rooms or chambers, into which the palletised fruit is carefully placed. Over a period of 5 days or so, the temperature in the chamber is controlled closely, and the bananas turn from green to yellow. The system is computerised so that once the Ripening Manager has determined the most appropriate ripening programme, the computer will ensure that the temperature inside the chamber stays within a preset band – too cool and the bananas will catch a chill and their skins turn from a dull yellow colour and then black; too warm and they will ripen too quickly with decreased shelf life. The introduction of a minute amount of ethylene vapour (a substance produced naturally by all fruit as it ripens) at the beginning of the ripening cycle, accompanied by an increase in temperature from about 14°C – to about 18°C awakens all the bananas in the chamber from their sleep, so that ripening can be closely controlled and uniform throughout each chamber.
Once the fruit has been ripened in the Ripening Centre, it is either despatched to Fyffes’ customers directly according to a customers specifications, or it can be packed for special purposes. A large proportion of the bananas will be delivered to supermarket distribution depots, the remainder going to wholesale markets and independent shops.
Bananas are one of the most popular fruits and in Europe for example; the banana is the biggest selling item of all the many thousands sold in a supermarket. With people becoming ever more aware of the need to eat healthily and to take regular exercise the benefits to be derived from eating bananas become increasingly significant. A banana contains around 95 calories, and very little fat and all is contained in a biodegradable natural wrapper. It is full of energy-giving carbohydrates and brimming with useful amounts of vitamins and minerals.
Bananas are a living tropical fruit. They must be handled with care and stored under the correct conditions. Bananas make such a colourful display that they are often positioned as the “first in flow” at the very front of retail stores.