The journey to transform the banana supply chain

Thanks to their versatility, affordability and health benefits, bananas remain one of the most popular and nutritious snacks worldwide. The banana supply chain, however, is not always viewed in the same favorable light. Especially when it comes to sustainability.

Our goal at IFCO is to make the fresh grocery supply chain sustainable for every type of fruit and vegetable, as well as for meat, fish, eggs and baked goods. Naturally, this ambitious target covers bananas, too. Understanding the complex and interconnected networks, systems and activities behind every banana in the stores is key to making the banana supply chain sustainable.

When was the first reusable banana crate launched?

Fresh produce transportation strategies are key areas in which IFCO excels. Roughly 30 years of experience in designing, producing and pooling Reusable Packaging Containers (RPCs) is packed inside IFCO innovations. The first IFCO RPC was developed in the early 1990s.

And the first IFCO reusable banana crate, the Caja Oro, along with a customized version of the IFCO SmartCycle™ closed loop pooling system specifically for the unique challenges of the global banana trade, was launched in the US over 15 years ago. Our experience and success lie in increasing food safety while reducing food and solid waste, energy use and water consumption. All of these goals have priority when you are aiming for a sustainable supply chain, whatever the produce.

Learnings from the first generation of banana RPCs, the Caja Oro, have been plugged into the next generation of reusable crates: the Banana Lift Lock.

4 key sustainability benefits from plantation to point of sale

How does the design of the Banana Lift Lock and the IFCO SmartCycle™ support and ensure a sustainable logistics operation that usually stretches from one end of an ocean to the other?

The design of the IFCO Banana Lift Lock tackles the issues and challenges that start at the plantation and end with today’s informed consumers. We’ve identified the main challenges and summarized how IFCO innovations target them directly. Here, we provide an overview of four compelling unique benefits of the Banana Lift Lock that, when it comes to sustainability, set our end-to-end packaging apart.

4 compelling unique benefits of the Banana Lift Lock

Banana logistics innovation based on real-world trials

One such comprehensive trial in 2018, for instance, was organized with SIIM, a subsidiary of the international group, Omer-Decugis & Cie that focuses on fresh and exotic fruits and vegetables.The trial involved Selvatica bananas from Ecuador, which were transported in IFCO RPCs for the entire journey through to the iconic International Market of Paris-Rungis for ripening and then on to customers across Europe. Today, SIIM continues to ship their bananas from the Ecuador plantation to point of sale in IFCO Banana Lift Lock crates. The reason?

"Using the IFCO reusable crates supports our sustainability targets and decarbonization processes," explains Vincent Omer-Decugis, CEO of Omer-Decugis & Cie. "The robustness of these RPCs also helps preserve product quality and the environment." SIIM’s successful experience for their banana supply chain convinced the company to transport not only bananas, but also its Extra Sweet Terrasol pineapples in IFCO reusable crates directly from the packing stations in Ecuador to the customers in Europe.

Interestingly, SIIM has achieved carbon neutrality for this particular supply chain, making these exotic fruits the first "carbon neutral" pineapples in the world, measured all the way from the company’s plantations in Ecuador to its Rungis platform in France.

How does the end-to-end packaging solution ensure sustainability?

Shipping fresh bananas sustainably across the world — in all seasons and in increasingly tight time frames — calls for precise logistic operations and optimum protection for the fresh produce. With the reusable Banana Lift Lock, IFCO is bringing the key principles of the circular economy to every step of the banana supply chain, from plantation through to point of sale. Our expertise in sustainable reusable packaging for the fresh grocery supply chain will benefit banana plantations, ripening specialists, retailers, and, ultimately, consumers and the environment.