Canaries banana producers are determined to work to access new export markets outside Spain during 2012, focusing on product quality, after some initial sales success in Germany.
Speaking at the recent Fruit Logistica trade exhibition in Berlin, Francisco Rodríguez, president of Canary Islands banana association Asprocan, said the product’s introduction to Germany was being viewed as a first step towards export expansion.
At a press conference held at the event, Rodríguez said Canaries producers were confident the quality of the archipelago’s bananas would help them win over German consumers, partly though their awareness of the islands as a “holiday paradise”.
Asprocan’s president said some progress had already been made since signing an agreement with German marketing company Roos in April 2011, with Canaries bananas now available through retailers Kauthof and Karstadt.
In fact, the islands currently export 20 tonnes of bananas each week to Germany, with other destinations including municipal markets in Cologne and Berlin.
Canaries bananas will also continue to be promoted across Europe through the EU’s Outlying Regions Graphic Symbol campaign, under which a traditional Canary Islands bus (known as a ‘Guagua’) will be touring Germany until the end of April.
