Yes, we have no bananas (almost)

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 15

Yes, we have no bananas (almost)

Bananas have been in short supply this week in the face of an increase in demand.

A shipment of bananas from the Philippines which had arrived in a “mature state,” had had to be sold quicker than normal, said the South Island manager of Fruit Distributers, Ltd, Mr John McLaughlan, in Wellington yesterday. An over-supply meant bananas had been cheaper in the previous two weeks.

Another shipment of bananas is due in Lyttelton today. They should be

ripe enough for sale on Monday. A consignment of fruit is also due from Ecuador in Auckland next week. It should arrive in Christchurch by Friday of next week. The suggested retail price for Island bananas was about $1.61 a kilogram. Ecuador bananas carried a suggested retail price of about $l.Bl. Retailers could go below that price. At the moment bananas could sell for 37 per cent above the wholesale cost of $20.80 for Island bananas, and $22.30 for

Ecuador bananas. Cartage charges could also be included in the retail price, which meant some retailers might charge over $2 a kilogram, depending on how far they had to transport the fruit. The South Island had not been affected by a shortage of Cook Island bananas because it was not normally supplied from that source, said Mr McLaughlan. The Cook Island was battered by a cyclone recently and would not recover enough to start harvesting bananas for another year, he said.