bananas

Jamaica is set to supply more bananas to the UK.

The Caribbean nation's agriculture minister Derrick Kellier told the Jamaica Gleaner that a contract has been signed with a UK entity for the supply of one container of bananas per week, which is expected to increase to 10 containers over time.

In June, Jamaica resumed banana shipments to the UK after a six-year absence from that market because of the devastating effects of several hurricanes on the sector and changes in the preferential agreement with the UK.

The weekly shipments of the fruit, weighing 2,000 pounds, continued up to the end of August, and the ministry had said then that a UK buyer would arrive in Jamaica to negotiate long-term contracts for importing Jamaican bananas into Britain.

'As we increase opportunities through the export platform, we continue to develop marketing arrangements with our partners in the United States and those in the UK,' Kellier said.