10-05-2024, 06:15 AM
This post was last modified 10-05-2024, 07:50 AM by FlyingClayDisk.
Late to the party here, I know, but I saw this while responding to another question here.
Banana growing and harvest is a really interesting process. I never realized how difficult it is to actually get a bunch of bananas to the store shelves. It's like crazy, CRAZY, difficult. I toured a Dole plantation several years ago on a business trip I was on down in the Caribbean.
Everybody who loves bananas knows just how fast they turn from just right to mush. That same level of exacting timing is replete throughout the whole process of raising and harvesting bananas. One real stunner in the process was the realization (when one of the Dole guys pointed this out) that any given bunch of bananas has to be harvested on an exact day, and that day varies from tree to tree. When you look at a banana plantation there's like tens of thousands of banana trees. And because bananas have to be 'in season' year round, this means there's all different ages of plants in a plantation. What this translates into is effectively every single tree has to be examined every single day. If they miss the optimal time for cutting a bunch down, even by a single day, the bananas won't make it to market before they're already over-ripe. So, as we all have seen, sometimes you see green bananas in the stores, but they can't be too green because if they're picked too soon they won't fully ripen. Time pressure on both ends, too early and too late. If we back up from what we see show up in the store (i.e. semi green banana) then it becomes clear that the bunches get cut and split when they're totally green. Now imagine looking at a plantation with tens of thousands of trees, all with totally green bananas on every tree, and trying to figure out which ones to cut at the precise time. Like...WOW! I had no idea.
It's a wonder bananas don't cost $50 bucks a bunch (I should probably be quiet here because someone might read this and jack up the prices). On top of all of this, you have to factor in waste, and there's a lot of it with bananas. If the bananas get delayed anywhere in transit (storm, shipping delay, etc., etc.) then the whole shipment might be lost.
The process of getting a simple banana to the store shelf is one of the most amazing and fascinating things in the grocery business! Think about that next time you peel that banana. In fact, I think I'll go have a banana right now (the wife picked up a bunch just yesterday)!
edit - When you add all this to Max's OP about 'limp bananas', erm, fungus causing banana 'rigidity dysfunction' (still doesn't sound right)..."Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just a fungus??"...yeah, well you get the idea; it's a wonder we can get bananas at all.
On a serious note, when I was stationed in Malaysia I always used to go to the open air night market on Saturday nights. It wasn't uncommon to see 15-20 different strains of bananas, everything from plantain type starchy bananas, to mini bananas, to regular bananas, to different colored and shaped bananas. All of them unique in taste, texture, size and shape.
Banana growing and harvest is a really interesting process. I never realized how difficult it is to actually get a bunch of bananas to the store shelves. It's like crazy, CRAZY, difficult. I toured a Dole plantation several years ago on a business trip I was on down in the Caribbean.
Everybody who loves bananas knows just how fast they turn from just right to mush. That same level of exacting timing is replete throughout the whole process of raising and harvesting bananas. One real stunner in the process was the realization (when one of the Dole guys pointed this out) that any given bunch of bananas has to be harvested on an exact day, and that day varies from tree to tree. When you look at a banana plantation there's like tens of thousands of banana trees. And because bananas have to be 'in season' year round, this means there's all different ages of plants in a plantation. What this translates into is effectively every single tree has to be examined every single day. If they miss the optimal time for cutting a bunch down, even by a single day, the bananas won't make it to market before they're already over-ripe. So, as we all have seen, sometimes you see green bananas in the stores, but they can't be too green because if they're picked too soon they won't fully ripen. Time pressure on both ends, too early and too late. If we back up from what we see show up in the store (i.e. semi green banana) then it becomes clear that the bunches get cut and split when they're totally green. Now imagine looking at a plantation with tens of thousands of trees, all with totally green bananas on every tree, and trying to figure out which ones to cut at the precise time. Like...WOW! I had no idea.
It's a wonder bananas don't cost $50 bucks a bunch (I should probably be quiet here because someone might read this and jack up the prices). On top of all of this, you have to factor in waste, and there's a lot of it with bananas. If the bananas get delayed anywhere in transit (storm, shipping delay, etc., etc.) then the whole shipment might be lost.
The process of getting a simple banana to the store shelf is one of the most amazing and fascinating things in the grocery business! Think about that next time you peel that banana. In fact, I think I'll go have a banana right now (the wife picked up a bunch just yesterday)!
edit - When you add all this to Max's OP about 'limp bananas', erm, fungus causing banana 'rigidity dysfunction' (still doesn't sound right)..."Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just a fungus??"...yeah, well you get the idea; it's a wonder we can get bananas at all.
On a serious note, when I was stationed in Malaysia I always used to go to the open air night market on Saturday nights. It wasn't uncommon to see 15-20 different strains of bananas, everything from plantain type starchy bananas, to mini bananas, to regular bananas, to different colored and shaped bananas. All of them unique in taste, texture, size and shape.
