SOME 12,500 boxes of bananas valued at US$190,000 (J$11.78 million) were exported to the European Union (EU) on Saturday.
Dr. Marshall Hall, chairman of the Banana Export Company, told The Gleaner that Saturday's shipment "went well." He said the shipment would continue every week and that next week's quota would increase to 18,500 boxes.
This is the first time that banana is being exported from Jamaica following the devastation of the sector by Hurricane Ivan last September. The shipment was made up of contributions from banana estates and small farmers islandwide.
Dr. Hall said that by July/August, the quota would further increase to 33,000 boxes weekly. If this is accomplished, this could see Jamaica earning US$600,000 (J$37 million) per week. Meanwhile, the challenge now is maintaining the quality of the bananas exported, the executive said: "We have to demonstrate that we can continue to produce the quality bananas that we used to export prior to Hurricane Ivan."
