Fresh Del Monte warns of deepening global banana crisis

GLOBAL – Fresh Del Monte Produce has renewed warnings about the worsening global banana crisis, after confirming the spread of Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 (TR4) to Ecuador, one of the world’s largest banana producers.

During the company’s latest earnings call, Chairman and CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh said the situation in Latin America has become critical. “This marks a serious escalation in Latin America after previous detections in Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela,” he said.

TR4 is a soil-borne fungal disease that kills banana plants and has no known cure. Abu-Ghazaleh said it is already destabilizing the region and recalled how it struck Peru’s Piura region, where “a recent study found that 45% of farms are already infected and about 10% have been completely eradicated.”

He added that Central America is not yet infected but warned that “it is just a matter of time.” The disease can remain dormant in soil for years, making reinfection a continuing problem. “You can replant and then three years later, four years later, you lose a tree again. I see that in the Philippines. I saw that in Africa. This is going to happen. I see that as we speak right now in Ecuador,” he said.

Alongside TR4, banana plantations across Central and South America are also fighting Black Sigatoka, another major fungal disease that attacks leaves and cuts yields. “Small growers are under mounting pressure as Black Sigatoka spreads and TR4 reaches new countries,” Abu-Ghazaleh said. “With already thin margins across the sector, rising disease-control costs are making survival increasingly difficult.”

Rising costs and falling margins

The company said Costa Rica’s banana production has dropped by 22 percent, equal to about 18 million boxes, as Black Sigatoka continues to spread. Abu-Ghazaleh noted that the cost of fungicides has increased by nearly 50 percent in two years. “And the problem is that the disease is adapting to that chemical, so you need to keep applying more. It’s a vicious cycle,” he said.

Fresh Del Monte’s banana segment recorded third-quarter sales of US$358 million, up 3.7 percent, but margins shrank due to higher costs, lower yields, and extreme weather.

To limit further spread, Fresh Del Monte has intensified biosecurity measures and is working with research partners, including Queensland University of Technology and UK-based Tropic, to develop TR4-resistant banana varieties. Abu-Ghazaleh said these efforts are essential but expensive. “The farmer can no longer absorb these rising costs. If we don’t act collectively to support growers and stabilize this supply chain, we risk seeing this fruit and the livelihoods behind it disappear before our eyes.”

In Central America, the company remains in a prevention phase, focusing on early detection and containment. Jorge Pelaez Reyes, Fresh Del Monte’s Central America Senior Vice President, said the firm is expanding into new areas such as Somalia to reduce risk. He added that growing climate and disease pressures require “a shift from traditional chemical-based approaches to more integrated and sustainable solutions.”

As Abu-Ghazaleh warned, “People really don’t understand how serious this issue is. There will come a time that people realize that there are not enough bananas… and prices will shoot up in a way that will be a shock to the market.”

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