Ohio'sBest

Can anyone give me the going rate of wholesale bananas here in the states?

Marvin

Many people still think of Hawaii as "third world" (or lower), yet we still manage to hang-in as part of the "states."

I sell myriad varieties of banana fruit to local health food stores and also at a local farmers' market. Just about every week we have 2-5 varieties available, and our standard selling rate is $1.00 per pound. (From what I am told by the stores, several of the varieties we supply cannot be procured elsewhare.)

Aloha from Big Island, MArvin

lorax

Can't help you with the US, but the Ecuador spot price for the week is $5.40 USD a case.

island cassie

OK - in the Dominican Republic it is RD$12 for 3 fingers!

Richard

In California, bananas are considered a specialty crop as I'm sure they are in Ohio. Here's the situation in California:

If you are an unlicensed individual, then you might find a produce distributor who will buy from you and deal with the certifications on their own. The price paid will be very low.

If you have an Ag license, then you can sell to a packing house, but few will be set up for your crop. The price paid will be a little higher, but still remarkably low.

If you are a "certified producer", you have more choices. In addition to the above, you can:
1. sell directly to the public at farmers markets at retail prices.
2. sell to a farmers' market seller at a somewhat high distributors price.
3. sell directly to independent produce markets, and in southern California the hot item is Asian food stores. The price will vary widely on the variety -- e.g., Misi Luki vs. standard Cavendish.
4. sell to a wider group of produce distributors who will pay a moderate price given that you are fully licensed (less liability for them).

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Ohio'sBest

Richard, what is a Cali packing house paying for them?

Richard

There are 58 counties in California. It is nearly 700 aerial miles from the northern border to the southern border of the state. Latitude-wise, this is roughly equivalent to traveling from the northern Ohio border to the southern Georgia border.

I am in San Diego, the southern-most county. The county Agricultural extension office (you have one in your county) has advised me not to bother with the packing houses here for minor fruits because they are focused on Avocados and Citrus.

The retail price for bananas here ranges from $0.75 / lb to $4 / lb depending on the variety. The local independent produce markets will pay about 1/4 to 1/2 of the retail price depending on what they feel the current demand is. This is a good rule of thumb for just about any fruit they sell, unless the owner happens to be growing it themselves.

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ewitte

"certified producer"

People sell all kinds of stuff on the side of the road when you get out away from the main city (not just fruit). From the looks of things I highly doubt they have any kind of certifications. Probably at the farmers market but prices are kind of high there and we do not really have good ones with lots of variety that I know of.

Richard

In California the situation is different. There are multiple agencies on the lookout for roadside fruit stands: city Police, county Sheriff, Pest-exclusion officers of the CDFA, and USDA inspectors. First violation is $1,000 plus back taxes and licensing fees.

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ewitte

People with money pay for certs. Fine away I doubt some of the people have even seen $1000 before There is no way to make people pay fines when they have no money. I'm sure there are much more secret illegal things they can do when they get closed down.

Richard

I'm sure you are correct in the Houston area.

The certified producers license in California is a one-time fee of $40 to file and have the inspector show up. Any follow-on inspections by the County Ag department is at no charge.

Also in California, if you don't pay your fines you will become part of a road labor crew, have your capital possessions confiscated, etc.

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ewitte

Sounds easier to just start with weed to begin with

Richard

True, and you can also do it legally in California with a permit.

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Nicolas Naranja

My god certified producers?!?! Here in Florida, the right to sell alongside the road is practically enshrined in state law. If you are a producer you can get a free certificate which basically excludes you from all necessary licensing and agency harrassment. As such you often see people peddling shrimp, fish, steaks, and all manner of produce alongside the roadways...which reminds me that I need to go stock up on some Mangoes before their season ends. I am awaiting the return of black sapote season, I didn't discover that wonderful fruit until the end of last season.

To answer the question in this thread...$0.40/lb for cavendish, $0.90/lb for Nam Wah, Burro, Mysore and Manzano are somewhere in between those two. Apparently there is a pretty good market for the male flower of the banana in the Asian markets, but I'm not eally sure what it goes for but I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least $1/flower

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Richard

Thanks!

The issue in roadside stands is pest exclusion, and in Farmers Markets the issue is fake farmers; e.g., reselling grocery store products as farm fresh.

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