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Content: Figure 3. Distribution of fresh banana imports, 2000–2009. Credit: FAOSTAT (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
The EU banana market is controlled by custom tariffs and market intervention. For example, the European Union imposes tariffs on bananas from Latin America while allowing bananas imported from the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries to enter duty-free. This caused the widely known banana trade war, which resulted in the European Union cutting duties on bananas from Latin America gradually to 144 Euros per mmt by 2016 from the current 176 Euros per mmt. World Market Structure for Fresh Bananas
The world's fresh banana market is characterized as an oligopolistic market, with only a few multinational companies (MNCs) engaged in the purchase, transport, and marketing of the fruit. Typically, these companies are integrated vertically; they own or contract plantations, own sea transport and ripening facilities, and have their own distribution networks, which gives them considerable economies of scale and market power in selling bananas. The world's three largest producers and marketers of fresh bananas are Dole Food Company, Chiquita Brands International, and Del Monte Fresh Produce.