Fyffes bananas

Placements on banana, melon and pineapple farms in Central America are up for grabs as Fyffes prepares to launch its graduate management programme at the end of March.

The fruit supplier will be holding open discussions with graduates at the Agri Careers Fair at the Royal Dublin Society in the Irish capital on 30 March. Following the company’s participation in the event last year, Fyffes will have a high-profile presence at the 2017 fair.

The international placements on offer are geared towards those pursuing a career in agriculture, horticulture, agribusiness, agri-technology, engineering or forestry.

As part of a two-year placement, selected students will have the chance to gain first hand experience of working on one of Fyffes’ banana, melon or pineapple farms in Central America.

From those who attended and registered their interest at the Agri Careers event last year, 10 graduates completed the interview process and were chosen for the programme.

Described by Fyffes as ‘resilient and resourceful’, all are currently posted to Central, South and North America where, as part of their two years work experience training, they are gaining an in-depth knowledge of the tropical fruit supply chain through their work on-the-ground in the region.

Upon their successful completion of the programme, the hope is that graduates will be offered permanent positions working with Fyffes in a choice of global locations.

Opportunities open to them would include roles in the production, procurement, shipping, ripening, distribution and marketing of bananas, pineapples and melons and other food products such as mushrooms.