Banana Industry

The banana industry is one of the most popular fruit industries in the world. In the United States, it is “the number one fruit consumed” (Chiquita). Bananas are grown on plantations all over the world. The main producers of commercial bananas are Latin America, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The number one country exporting bananas currently is India with over “25% of the world banana exports” (fao.org). There are only a few companies that import and export bananas internationally. The biggest exporter is Dole. In 2018, Dole CEO David H. Murdock sold 45% of Dole stock to Irish company Total Produce(VCstar.com). They were also given the option to purchase an additional 6%, which would make them the dominant shareholder. Del Monte is also another major banana company. Stakeholders for Del Monte are anyone who owns shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. Chiquita is the last of the banana behemoths. In 2015, Safra Group completed their complete acquisition of major banana producer Chiquita. Fyffes is also an important banana exporter. Although they are not as big as the three previous companies, they do play a large role in providing bananas for many countries.

There are two popular banana varieties that are traded internationally. The first of these is the traditional sweet fruit bananas that are enjoyed worldwide. The second is the plantain, which is a main starch for many countries all over the world. Both are consumed all over the world and are “an essential staple food for many developing countries” (fao.org).

Although most of the banana cultivars are used primarily for consumption, there is some research that is focusing on utilizing banana by-products. Some of these by-products are the pseudostem, leaves, inflorescence, fruit stalk, rhizome and peels. Much of this research is focused on using this excess biomass as a source of renewable energy, starch, natural bio colorant, bio generation of flavor, and natural fibers(fao.org).

The main focus of this research is in the conversion of these by-products into renewable energy. Over the years the use of hydrocarbons as fuel has increased. One of the most popular sources of this is Ethanol. Ethanol can be used either as a source of renewable energy or as a solvent. Banana peels have shown great potential as a “substrate for producing ethanol” (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The pseudo stems and leaves are also potential substrate sources. Instead of using staple crops such as corn or wheat, excess banana by-products can be used for conventional natural ethanol production.

Another source of renewable energy bananas can provide is methane. The aerobic digestion of the banana peels has been shown to be “clean and safe, as it does not require the addition of sewage sludge or manure” (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).