BUSINESS MONDAY: Vendors facing banana shortage

BARBADOS appears to be in the grip of a shortage of bananas.

A number of retail outlets in the country including some vendors, have been without the fruit over the last two weeks.

And they are in no position to say exactly when the shortage of this fruit will end, as demand continues to grow for them.

There is speculation that the shortage could have stemmed from the problems in nearby St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is a leading producer of the fruit in the Caribbean.

Barbados imports tons of bananas monthly from that island. However, the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano destroyed a number of the operations there, along with other commodities which are exported to Barbados and other islands in the region.

Growers in that island have complained that bananas represent a key cash crop for them and that a lot of them will be out of business until the country recovers from the impact of the volcanic eruption.

However, ash from that volcano has also affected the fruits grown in the northeastern parishes of Barbados, notably St. Joseph and St. John.

A vendor there told this newspaper that the ash had spoilt the local fruits, rendering some of them unsuitable for sale.

She said that with the rainy season on us that will clear up a lot of the fruits.