Banana supplier JN Fox & Sons is to diversify into dried fruit by expanding its current partnership with Costa Rican university Earth.
The company is set to import dried banana, mango, pineapple and a tropical mix with pack sizes ranging from 40 to 160g, after successful processing trials at Earth over the last seven years.
Trials looked at taste, manufacturing processes, economy of production and shelf life, before the final range was selected.
The news comes as last year Earth University exported over 1 million boxes of bananas from its plantations, which are built around sustainable production techniques, such as agroforestry.
Ethical and environmentally-friendly sourcing continue to form a central part of the JN Fox & Sons and Earth University partnership through both the Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance standards.
Director Stephen Fox said: “With the continued work we have achieved over the last year in supporting our growers at Earth University, we are keen to take sustainable sourcing to the next level.
“Earth exported more than 1 million boxes of bananas in 2016 which is a remarkable milestone which we are proud to be part of and we look forward to supporting and working with them on their further journey ahead.”
