Fairtrade bananas
You'll find Fairtrade bananas in your local FoodCoop store, and we've sold them for more than 20 years. Around one in three bananas bought in the UK is Fairtrade.
Where do Fairtrade bananas come from?
Most Fairtrade bananas are grown in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the warm, humid climate suits them.
Bananas first came from Asia. Today they're grown in more than 150 countries, and they're traded more than any other fruit in the world.
Some are grown on large plantations, where workers do everything from harvesting to packing. Others come from small family farms, which often struggle to compete with the big plantations.
How does extreme weather affect banana farmers?
When a storm or flood destroys a banana plantation, the farmer can lose their whole income until new plants grow.
The Caribbean is prone to cyclones. The Fairtrade Foundation reports that climate change is making them stronger and more frequent.
Banana farmers also face droughts and plant diseases. One fungal disease, Tropical Race 4 (TR4), is especially costly to manage.
Many farmers earn too little from their crop to afford replanting. After a bad storm, that can leave them with no choice but to borrow.
How does Fairtrade help farmers recover?
Banana farmers at Las Mercedes, a co-operative in the Dominican Republic, used their Fairtrade Premium to set up a disaster recovery fund.
The Fairtrade Premium is extra money paid on top of the price for the crop. Farmers decide together how to spend it.
After extreme weather, the Las Mercedes farmers check their farms for damage. The co-operative's technicians recommend what the fund should cover, such as new plants or repairs to buildings and equipment. The money is then paid out in cash or, sometimes, as fertiliser.
How the fund helped Ángel replant
Ángel Guzmán Santana grows bananas at Las Mercedes. In 2016, flooding destroyed his entire plantation.
He replanted in 2017, and the same year Hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through. With no crop, he had nothing to export or sell locally, and his small earnings weren't enough to rebuild.
The fund made the difference. "Thanks to the fund I have been able to continue to cultivate my land," says Ángel. Without it, he says, he would have had to wait longer to replant, or might not have been able to at all.
Fellow farmer Árelis Bueno says the fund matters to the whole community, because every family there depends on the farms for its income.
How are farmers preparing for future storms?
The Las Mercedes farmers are using their Premium to protect their land, planting trees along the riverbanks and building walls beside the river.
What difference does Fairtrade make to banana farmers?
Fairtrade gives banana farmers a safety net when prices fall, plus extra money to invest in the projects they choose.
Fairtrade banana farmers are paid at least the Fairtrade Minimum Price. That protects them when market prices drop, and helps pay the Fairtrade Base Wage to workers on plantations.
In 2023, 37,111 farmers and workers belonged to Fairtrade banana producer organisations. Together they produced more than 1.5 million tonnes of Fairtrade bananas.
They earned €35 million in Fairtrade Premium that year. They can spend it on projects such as healthcare, better housing or training.
How you can make a difference
You can join in. Look for the Fairtrade Mark on bananas next time you're in your local FoodCoop store.