The world’s top three banana companies controlled 36.6 per cent of the global banana trade in 2012, down from their peak at 65.3 per cent in the 1980s, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, The Changing Role of Multinationals in the Global Banana Trade.
Following a recent merger between Chiquita and Fyffes, the largest banana traders are now ChiquitaFyffes (with 18.7 per cent of the global banana export market), Del Monte (12.2 per cent) and Dole (11.4 per cent).
Despite global trade in bananas climbing 7.3 per cent to hit a record high of 16.5m tonnes in 2012, there is a notable shift in major retailers purchasing directly from growers and wholesalers. The establishment of direct container line services between South America and Europe, as well as an increase in the number of companies exporting bananas, are fragmenting the global trade, according to the FAO report.
As a result, the focus of the major vertically integrated companies has shifted away from banana plantations and production towards transporting and marketing.
