Jeffrey Hall, CEO-designate of Jamaica Producers Group.

Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

Jamaica Producers (JP) is hunting the title of 'ethical' producers of bananas, by seeking Fair Trading Certification in the UK, which is the new rave among banana consumers, says group divisional director and CEO-in-waiting Jeffery Hall.

The ethical producer profile is expected to put JP's bananas on competitive par with other FTC brands sold in UK supermarket chains. Fruits with the designation tend to attract a premium price, which Hall expects will cover anticipated increases in getting the product from the fields to market.

Fair trade labelling began in 1980s in the Netherlands and was launched in 1988 in the United Kingdom.

The certification is not required by law but is demanded by the European Union.

The ethical producer concept explores the environmental standards, social accountability and employer health, as well as safety and labour practices involved in agricultural production.

Hall said European consumers are very wary about any forced labour or child labour employed in the production process, and are big supporters of collective wage bargaining.

Ethical trading

"The new thing in banana is ethical trading and it suits our business," Hall told the Financial Gleaner.

"We've taken a decision to use our leadership in ethical banana production to produce something that the banana consumers want. This is hot in banana business," he said.

The advantages, however, of working towards FTC designation is that banana producing companies like the JP Group can boost revenues by about 11 to 12 per cent.

Fair trading certification ensures that the producers of banana receive a fair price (premium) which covers the cost of production of that farmer. Consumers pay a premium for the certified products. These funds are reinvested in the community.

If JP chose not to opt into the ethical programme: "We would have to compete exclusively on price and the only way to win is to cut corners and that is against our ethos," said Hall.

At present banana exporters to Europe pay a tariff of euro176 per tonne as negotiated when the European Union lost in a challenge from Latin American producers to open its preferential markets.

Hall said his employees have already established a committee to determine how the banana premium is to redistributed in the communities where JP's farms operate.

"The committee saidthey would like to see it invested in the local hospital and basic schools in Port Maria and Annotto Bay," he said.

Hoping to get a 12 per cent premium on its bananas going forward, Hall disclosed that the JP's Jamaican operations has invested in technology provided by Orbus Technologies Limited to streamline the measurement of its palm management or banana standards.

Software

The software according to managing director of Orbus Technologies Paul Collister is the only software of its kind used on any banana farm in the world.

The testing on this software ended last October and now Jamaica Producers Group is using the product to gather information on the aging process and quality in bagging of the plants.

It is expected that this investment will be instrumental in helping the company achieve its target even as Orbus Technology is in the process of applying other software. Hall declined comment on the size of the investment in the technology.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com