FEATURES Publication Sponsor
Molina Group looks ahead to calmer waters Last year was one of the most challenging in the company’s 30-year history. But Hugo Molina Botrán believes the outlook is brighter for 2021. by Maura Maxwell @maurafruitnet
C
entral America is no
affected by wind or storms. The
Ecuadorean bananas, Molina notes
stranger to hurricanes, but
impact on our operation was, above
that growers have not felt the
when Eta and Iota struck
all, logistical, as most of Guatemala’s
financial benefit as much as during
in a space of less than two weeks
bananas are exported through the
other times of shortage because
at the end of last year, they left in
ports on the north coast.”
markets such as China and the
from Eta and Iota
Middle East are importing lower
OPPOSITE
their wake a trail of devastation in
Damage to roads and bridges
Guatemala and Honduras unseen
meant access to ports was severely
in more than 50 years.
restricted in the weeks immediately
“At the same time, the
group’s farms escaped the worst of the damage
TOP—Pandemic
control measures have pushed up
after the storms. Even now,
reinstatement of movement
was not down to the intensity of
rebuilding is still causing delays and
restrictions in major markets like
the winds, but rather flooding
increasing transit times to the ports.
Europe, are limiting purchasing
BOTTOM—Molina
and consumption opportunities in
is confident that
several countries,” he says.
global demand for
The severity of the damage
which left swathes of banana
However, Molina points out
plantations under water for
that these setbacks are negligible
several days, destroying the root
compared with the delays caused by
According to Molina, banana
system of the plants.
the shipping companies and a lack of
production in northern Guatemala
available containers. “The pandemic
never fully recovered from
Molina Group, the world’s biggest
has created significant congestion
Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Instead,
independent banana producer,
in the unloading of ships in ports
it moved to the southern coast of
most of its farms emerged
such as Los Angeles and Long
the country. Although this change
unscathed. “The damage was,
Beach – and the recent grounding
resulted in a substantial increase
for the most part, to plantations
of a containership in the Suez Canal
in the cost of transporting the fruit
owned by the three large banana
further compounded the disruption,”
from farm to port, this has been
multinationals and a number of
he says.
largely offset by improvements in
Fortunately for Guatemala’s
small producers, mainly in the Sula
While the resulting loss in
Valley in Honduras,” explains Hugo
production in Guatemala and
Molina Botrán.
Honduras caused an almost
banana output will return to pre-
immediate hike in spot prices for
Eta and Iota production levels
“Our farms were not directly
16
volumes.
ABOVE—The
production costs OPPOSITE
bananas will keep on growing
productivity in newer farms. He is confident that Guatemala’s
fresh focus banana 2021
p.48-49 (S16-17).indd 16
18/05/2021 11:23
