Carlos López Flores said the industry will sell fewer bananas next year as war and weather push up production costs
Chiquita Brands International CEO Carlos López Flores has warned that next year could prove to be the toughest the banana sector has faced in decades. Speaking to Bloomberg, Carlos López Flores predicted sales across the industry would fall in 2027, while production costs would probably continue to increase.
“Everybody in Latin America who grows bananas will tell you today it is more difficult, more expensive and less predictable to grow bananas than it was a year ago,” he told the news service.
López noted that El Niño – along with growing geopolitical tensions – are complicating banana cultivation for suppliers across Latin America. “We are forecasting a very challenging end of 2026 and a very challenging start of next year for the industry,” he said.
The Middle East conflict has driven up the cost of packaging, fertiliser and fuel, and López said Chiquita had had a hard time recovering those increases from customers.
At the same time, a strengthening El Niño brings added risk for Latin American producers, both in the form of flooding and drought. Flooding can increase the incidence of diseases like Black Sigatoka and Moko and can damage farms and infrastructure, while drought reduces the water level in the Panama Canal, a vital shipping route for Latin American suppliers.
According to López, preliminary talks with retailers to agree supply arrangements and prices for the coming year have centred on “surety of supply” rather than price increases, though he said the company has raised the issue of sharing the burden of higher costs.
However, given the current cost-of-living pressures facing consumers, Bloomberg said it is unclear whether retailers or shoppers would accept higher prices.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, El Niño is expected to peak near the end of the year, with an almost 100 per cent likelihood that it will persist through February.
