Is Unappeased

And Now

From Ecuador!

NZ's Banana Appetite Is Unappeased

THE insatiable appetite of New Zealanders for bananas took another odd turn recently—and in so doing showed again that pro ducers in the islands north of the Dominion have not taken full ad vantage of the NZ market potential.

Because of “difficulty in obtaining an adequate supply from New Zea land’s usual sources, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa,’’ Fruit Distributors, Ltd. (the organisation which imports fruit into New Zealand), announced in August that a shipment of 30,000 bunches of bananas had been ordered from Ecuador.

The shipment, which, together with the freight, was to be paid for from sterling funds, was to arrive in Auckland by the Danish fruit ship Argentinean Reefer, 2,800 tons, about September 16.

The importers said that the landed cost would be about the same as that of bananas brought in from the Islands.

Considerable interest was likely to be shown by the importers in the condition of this fruit when it reached the consumers, as no bananas in bunch have been im ported into the country, except aS personal effects of Island passengers, for many years. The practice of ship ping bananas from the mam Islands ports in tightly packed crates which cause considerable bruising is open to criticism.

Almost all bananas imported into the UK and Europe are in the bunch and are mostly sold in neat “hands.” Bananas there are yellow.

In New Zealand, bananas are frequently sold black, with skin bruises and blight and are about as unattractive in appearance as they well can be.

Special equipment is required for the loading and shipping of bunched bananas. Probably less fruit can be carried per cubic foot of hold space —but only in the South Pacific does this seem to matter.

Conditions in the Cook Islands

would probably be unsatisfactory bunch shipment, as there are wharves for ease of handling; K in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, whu suitable facilities could be ests lished, there could be a great sa\n in cost of crates, as the bund; are merely enclosed in inexpenss plastic bags. Few bananas are present produced in the C o

Islands, anyway.-

J.P.S.