Plátanos de Canarias PGI, a season in the shadow of a volcano

The volcano eruption has had a major impact on Canary Island banana producers, but though sales were down overall in 2021, “we maintained exports at similar levels to 2020,” reports Plátano de Canarias manager Sergio Cáceres. The unique bananas from the islands continue to adhere to strict food safety rules but Cáceres said such standards need to provide a more level playing field with respect to banana imports. “The priority for the next season is to start to replace the 230 ha buried by lava on La Palma which has directly affected 500 producer families, a project that will take several years,” he said.