Dominica’s banana growers need greater discipline if they are to comply with new retail standards being imposed this autumn. This was the message delivered by Windward Bananas chief executive Bernard Cornibert when he travelled to meet Dominica growers last week and give them a pep-talk in readiness for compliance with Tesco’s Nature’s Choice.
“What we are saying is that they need to be disciplined,” said Cornibert. “It is not about spending a lot of money but there are things that they are required to do and if they don’t, we won’t be able to take their fruit to Tesco.
“It is not like passing an exam and then you are free - getting certified is a management system that is put in place to be adhered to all the time. Growers need to be disciplined enough to record all their inputs, constantly, for example.”
Cornibert said that as Winward Bananas deals with a large number of small banana growers, it is not able to police them all the time and that they need to do this themselves. Cornibert estimates that of the 800 growers on the island of Dominica, only some 31 have so far been certified although he is confident that the remainder will rise to the challenge.
No comments yet