BanaBay
BanaBay has secured a contract with a new customer in the Middle East.
The Hussain al Qurashi Group has just taken delivery of four containers of premium BanaBay bananas.
The Middle East is a key focus for UK-headquartered BanaBay, as the region has been identified as having high purchasing power and a population of habitual fruit buyers.
The Hussain al Qurashi Group is a leading food business in the region, sourcing products from Europe, Africa, North America, New Zealand, Australia, China, India and Pakistan, and exporting to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, India and Pakistan.
With more than 25 fresh produce outlets in the UAE, the group supplies all leading supermarkets and hypermarkets in the region.
Harley Williams, business development manager for BanaBay, said: “This is an exciting new partnership in Saudi Arabia which again demonstrates the expanding reach and development of the BanaBay brand across the globe.”
The Birmingham-based banana supplier has agree to supply containers to key Russian fruit exporter, Fruit Brothers
BanaBay has taken a leap forward with banana sales in Russia by securing a significant new customer following a successful product trial.
Having experienced BanaBay produce via the European spot market, Fruit Brothers, one of the leading fruit and vegetable exporters in Russia, approached BanaBay directly and will now be supplied with 12 to 15 containers of bananas per week to distribute to supermarkets in the largest Russian cities and other regions.
Vitali Donskoi, BanaBay’s business development manager responsible for Russia, said: “The Russian market is really huge and growing fast, so we will always be interested in any opportunities and challenges arising there.
“Now that we have had our first success, we are currently exploring how to start working directly with retailers as this is another fantastic potential customer base for us.”
Fast-growing banana marketer broadens its range beyond tropical fruits with addition of New Zealand apples and Mexican limes to its offer
BanaBay, the rapidly emerging tropical fruit distributor-marketer with headquarters in the UK and plantations in Ecuador, is branching into new products.
From this month, the company will be able to offer New Zealand apples and Mexican limes for the first time.
Known primarily for Ecuadorian bananas, BanaBay stated to the media that it was responding to customers’ requests for apples, which, while outside the tropical fruit basket, are “a very popular choice”.
The company has chosen to source its apples from New Zealand, already a key market for BanayBay’s bananas, citing the country’s ideal growing climate and reputation for developing exciting new varieties. BanaBay’s varietal range will include Royal Gala, New Zealand Queen, Pacific Rose and Braeburn.
“While our core business remains our Ecuadorian-grown bananas, we have always prided ourselves on our flexible and responsive customer service so when a product is requested, we can act fast to source the best fruit and add it to the suite of products,” said managing director Mark O’Sullivan.
BanaBay is also venturing into the citrus market with the addition of Persian seedless limes. Cultivated on GlobalGAP-certified farmland in Mexico, the fruit, which is in high demand for pan-Asian cuisine and cocktails, will become an integral part of its range, which also includes also includes bananas, pineapples and baby bananas.