Supply chain of

fruits (Banana,
Mango)
Banana supply chain
Study Objectives

 To introduces which country produces bananas and what kind of supply

chain process bananas have to go through before coming to your table.

 To compares the difference in banana supply chain management among the

world's three largest consumption areas, namely North America, Europe,
and East Asia.
Banana
Supply chain
in Japan
Bananas are one of the most popular fruits in the
world. In Japan, we can find them at supermarkets,
convenience stores and groceries. It is said that 9 to
15 bananas are consumed by one household every
month in Japan. However, the production of bananas
in Japan is quite low, and we import bananas from
overseas to make up for the gap in domestic
production, which is far below domestic
consumption.
 Banana Supply
chain in Japan
A wide variety of banana brands are placed on the banana shelves in supermarkets in
Japan, but about 80% of them are imported from the Philippines. By the time bananas
reach consumers, they go through the hands of producer, exporter, importer, ripening /
distributor, and retailer. The long journey of the banana supply chain begins with the
cultivation and planting of bananas in the exporting country. About 70 to 100 days later,
the flowers of the banana trees bloom, the square fruits become rounded, and when the
color of the fruits turns light green, it is time to harvest. Unlike other fruits, bananas can
be harvested all year round, because banana production areas are distributed in tropical
and subtropical areas. After the bananas are harvested, they are shipped to a local
packing plant, washed thoroughly with water, and then sorted, weighed, and packed.
When bananas are packed in a cardboard box, a number is stamped on the outside of the
box. This number is the identity code, which identifies the farm where the banana was
harvested, the packing facility, and the date and time of packing, that ensures the
traceability of the bananas. Then, after packing is completed, after undergoing export
inspection such as phytosanitary inspection, the bananas finally will be on board the
vessel and cross over to the other side of the world.
 Japan Supply
chain in Japan
It probably takes weeks for bananas to cross the ocean, but how are they kept
fresh? They are transported using temperature-controlled reefer containers.
Recently, some shipping companies have also equipped reefer containers with
Remote Container Management (RCM) technology. This makes it possible to
remotely track data such as power supply, temperature, humidity, ventilation
settings, etc. in the reefer containers even while the bananas are travelling at
sea, and safely transport the bananas to the importing countries.
Bananas are not directly distributed to the market after arriving at the importing
country via sea transportation and undergoing phytosanitary and import
customs clearance on the importing country. Instead, the packed banana pallets
are first ripened in the ripening room. This is because yellow-colored bananas
are generally banned from import by pest control quarantine rules, so when they
arrive in the importing country, the bananas are still green and hard. Green hard
bananas are brought into this ripening room, which is divided according to the
shipping date, and the green bananas are ripened for about 4 to 7 days in this
warm room where the temperature, ethylene gas and hydrocarbons are adjusted.
The temperature must be kept constant, and temperatures below 13°C or above
18°C can spoil the appearance of bananas. Bananas that have reached the proper
ripened state are then moved to the cooling room. Now the bananas are ready to
be edible, the bananas are shipped to wholesalers and retailers, and finally
delivered to consumers.
General supply chain of banana from the
production area to the consumption area.
Banana productive capacity ≠ export capacity

Figures show banana productivity and imports by country, respectively. Comparing these, countries that produce a lot of bananas do not necessarily export a
lot of bananas. In Particular, Although India is ranked first and China is ranked second in banana production, their banana exports are not very high. China
ranks 9th in export volume, which is low for a large banana producing country.

Why is the export volume so small even though they produce large amount? Since these two countries have very large populations , India with about 1.26
billion and China about 1.37 billion, the domestic consumption is also large; therefore the export volume is very small. Besides India and China, the same
reasoning can be applied for other populous countries, like Brazil and Indonesia.
Figure 2 Banana exports by country (2019),
Figure 1 Banana production by country (2018), Unit: tons Unit: million US dollars
The import value of bananas of the US is
by far the largest and Japan comes sixth
in the world
In 2019, the import value of the United States is
the highest, which is about 2.5 times the import
value of Russia's banana, which is the second
largest, making the United States the world's
largest importer of bananas in value. On the
other hand, Japan's banana imports are the sixth
largest in the world, but it can be said that
banana consumption is high for the Japanese
population. The data also show that most of the
world's major banana importers are from North
America, Europe and East Asia
The Philippines is Japan's biggest
import partner
As shown in Figure, the bananas
imported by Japan are mostly from
the Philippines. It is said that the
COVID-19 shock has reduced the
supply of bananas from the
Philippines, and the share of banana
imports from Ecuador has slightly
increased.
Banana Farm
to Table
Mango Supply chain In Bangladesh
Mango Farm
in
Bangladesh
 Mango supply
chain Bangladesh
Actors in the Mango Supply chain

In order to reach delicious mango to the

There are several actors involved in the
consumer, there are quite a good
production and marketing of mango.
number of activities involved that are
Supply chains represent the participants
performed by a wide range of
involved in the flow of product from
stakeholders. The main actors in the
farm to market (including traders,
mango supply chain are - research &
processors and exporters). Mango
extension departments, input suppliers,
supply chain and its market actors in
producers, traders (collection,
Bangladesh is presented in Figure.
wholesale & retail) and consumers.
Research and Extension

•Research and Extension: The National Agricultural Research

System (NARS) is composed of Bangladesh Agricultural Research
Council and 10 national agricultural research institutes. Bangladesh
Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) is the largest multi- crop research
institute conducting research on a wide variety of crops. Under BARI,
Horticulture Research Center (HRC) is working for the improvement of
mango production through evolving new varieties of mangoes and
planning and execution of basic, applied and adaptive research outcome.
•
•The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is to providing
efficient and effective needs based extension services to all categories of
farmer, to enable them to optimize their use of resources, in order to
promote sustainable agricultural and socio-economic development. In
1996 the government adopted the New Agriculture Extension Policy
(NAEP) to conduct a well-planned Agriculture Extension Service in
Bangladesh.
Input Supply

Input Supply: Ensuring availability of good quality agricultural inputs,

including seed, fertilizer, crop protection products (CPP) and farm machineries
at reasonable prices is important for good quality mango production. Both
public and private organizations are active in input supply chain in
Bangladesh. Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and the
Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) are the public
organizations dealing with agro-inputs in Bangladesh. Macro nutrient (Urea,
TSP, DAP and MOP) business is fully controlled by public sectors. But a good
number of companies are involved in micronutrients, seed, CPP and the farm
machinery business.

Public sector import and produce agro-inputs and supply those to the farmers
through their selected distribution channel. The large agro-input companies
also produce and import seed, micro nutrients, CPP, and farm machinery in
Bangladesh. They also have their own distribution channel included
wholesalers and retailers. Some multinational companies are also involved in
agro-input business in Bangladesh. Mango farmers either produce or
purchase grafted plants from nursery
Production

•Production: Farmers are the main actors in the

mango supply chain. There are small, medium and
large mango farmers in the mango growing areas in
Bangladesh. Mango farmers who own land usually
rent land to other mango growers for a span of three
to four years. DAI (2014) reported that only about 20
percent of farmers remain engaged in whole mango
production cycle starting from planting orchard trees,
then nurturing them, and finally selling mangoes.
About 50 percent farmers leases land for mango
cultivation for a fee. Mango farmers who own land
usually rent land to other mango growers for a span of
three to four years.
 Production
•Farmers believe that the quality of the fruits is depending on the varieties, and
quality may differ from one tree to another. The quality ofmango increases with
quantity of irrigation and manure. Farmers usually take the decision of harvesting by
looking at the fruits’ colour and size, and only harvest the mature fruit from the trees.
Most of the farmers conduct harvesting manually by using their hands or by using
sticks with a hook attached to the end. A mango harvester developed by BARI is also
rarely used by the farmers. None of them found using carry picker that is used in the
developed countries. Farmers who harvest themselves also store the fruits mostly at
their homestead before selling them. They store the mango for maximum one week
and the fruits are packaged in bamboo baskets. But the post-harvest losses are found
high during transportation and storage due to over ripening, physical damage from
harvest and mice attack. Farmers usually transport mangoes from field to house or to
the local market by human labors or use a rickshaw van. At the time of transport to the
local market, most of the farmers put mango in a bamboo basket. Very few of them
use plastic crate, which is recommended for reducing post-harvest losses. The mango
farmers require new varieties of mango, improved harvesting techniques and
improved transportation and packaging.
 Collection

•Collection: Pre-harvest contractor, Commission Agent and Local

Traders are involved in collecting mango from farmers. Farmers either
sell mangoes after harvest or they sell fruit-bearing trees for the season to
pre-harvest contractor. Many entrepreneurs are engaged in purchasing
and selling mango orchards at different stages of production. Sale of
orchards under cultivation by farmers at either flowering or fruit-bearing
stage is common. Pre-harvest contractor purchase an orchard at flowering
stage engage in the further cultivation of the orchard until it comes to
fruiting stage and may further resell the trees once again after fruiting.
The final buyer of the trees, then takes care of the orchard, harvests the
fruits, and finally them to mango customers. Farmers also sell mangoes
to different value chain actors, including beparis (small traders), large
traders, arathdars (commission agents) and sometimes to processing
company suppliers. Farmers also sell mangoes directly to the consumers.
 Wholesale: Pre-harvest contractor, Commission Agent and Local
Traders sell the mango to the wholesalers, exporters and

Wholesale, Retail processors. Wholesalers operate at the regional and national level
and often occupy fixed space in urban wholesale markets. They
procure mangoes in bulk from local arathdars and large traders
and sell directly to retailers. All transactions take place in cash.
Supply Agents collect supply fresh mangoes for processors as per
the procurement requirements, and purchase mangoes from
farmers, small and large traders. The transaction takes place in
cash. Company suppliers also perform grading and sorting of
fresh mangoes as per processors’ requirements.

Retail: There are different kind of retailers operating for retailing

mango. Mangoes are widely sold by small fruit retailers, who are
retailing fruits all year around. There are some seasonal retailers
who also retail mangoes during the harvesting seasons. Super
markets are also selling mangoes.