Poland: bananas are by far the leading imported fruit

Bananas are the most important products in Polish fruit import - their share has been estimated lately at about 30% (was even larger before Poland joined the EU, e.g. 36% in 1995) . The import of bananas started to grow after 1990 and in 1999 was 30 times larger than in 1988. Between 1999 and 2003 it grew by 70% - from 153 thousand MT to 260,5 thousand MT. The latest import data come from 2005 – 222 thousand MT, and 2006 (estimates) – 215 thousand MT. Some of the fruits are re-exported – e.g. around 10% (30 thousand MT) in 2003.

The bananas mostly come from Ecuador, Columbia, Costa Rica and Panama (together – 98-99% from Latin America), and only small quantities from France, Spain and some African countries. For example in 2004 Poland imported 254,9 K MT of bananas, including 129,5 K MT (51%) from Ecuador, 53,1 K MT from Costa Rica, 35,6 K MT from Columbia and 23,9 K MT from Panama.

The most recognizable banana brand in Poland is Chiquita. This company’s latest marketing campaign – with the slogan “Chiquita. Poczuj klimat”, which translates to “Chiquita. Feel the mood” - started in Poland on February 19th and it will continue until April 15th. During the campaign 15 and 30 second video spots will be emitted on major TV stations and banana buyers will receive special gifts in selected stores.

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