The Journey of one Banana: A Supply Chain in Motion.

I’m making a banana smoothie. I ordered groceries the other day and had them delivered through
Amazon Fresh. I was a complete idiot and forgot to double-check the order. So, instead of 4
bananas, I got 4 bundles of bananas.”

My instant thought was:

These are awesome times to be a consumer.

• Sitting comfortably at home

• Able to order groceries
• Directly delivered in the front door
• 100% transaction completed
• No Step outside
What are the advancements and influences ?
•Comfort

•Convenience
“Think about the journey the banana

The complexity of:

* planning
* transportation
* collaboration
* time and labor

that went into the supply chain of that banana

• Farming
* Multiple Moving Parts
• Dependent on ……..?
• Collaboration of Multiple Parties
• Resource consuming elements?

• But, without the initial • Refrigeration

farming/production of the banana,
• Ripening Centers
the rest of the supply chain would
be redundant. • Proper Transportation

• Distribution Centers
• Brazil
• India for domestic consumption
• Variations in Bananas:
• Difficulties: • GHG emission created during farming,
• sustainability and ecological living packaging and distribution
• for abusing the human and worker
rights at production plantations.
•
• Cultivation, harvesting and selection of the
fruit is very labour intensive, and as
previously indicated require a highly
organized and integrated chain”
• Packaging, Traceability and Sourcing

• Most farms work directly, under contract, with a specific label that
will later distribute the bananas in bulk to retailers around the • the fruit is washed, labeled and packaged at
globe. adjacent plants
• quality-control
• most production sites utilize box code labeling
for tracking purposes.
• “In this process, a number called a Box Code is stamped on each
box. This number enables the identification of the farm where the
bananas were harvested, the facility where they were boxed, and
the time and date when they were boxed, for example. This
ensures the traceability of the bananas, which makes it possible to
trace them back to the area of production immediately in the event
of a quality problem or the like at the sales destination”
• Transportation, Logistics and • major distributors load up massive cargo
Ripening
freights on company ships, or those of 3rd
party logistic providers.

• Transportation — shipping, trucking and

refrigeration — contributes to 62%-67% of
the total carbon footprint created during the
life cycle of the banana value .

• During maritime transport, bananas are

required to be stored in large refrigeration
containers.
 • * Packaged bananas are transported from sea to land, and
loaded into ‘forced-ripening’ centers.

• * Temperature-controlled rooms for 5–7 days at a time.

• * “Temperature must be kept constant.

• * A temperature lower than 13°C or higher than 18°C can

• RIPENING PROCESS damage the appearance of the fruit”

• * Air must continue to be circulated in the storage rooms.

• * Simultaneously, controlled amounts of ethylene gas and

hydrocarbons are fed into the rooms, which triggers a
ripening of the banana
• Retail and Consumption
• the final step before retail is inspection
• At stores, unpacking, shelving and direct
consumer-sales take place.
• CALCULATION
So next time you slurp down a smoothie,
* eat a piece of banana bread or
* flip over those banana flapjacks,

just remember:
that banana’s existence took one hell of a supply chain in motion.