Tropic’s non-browning variety can now be imported, sold, and consumed in both countries, and grown in Brazil
Biotech company Tropic has secured regulatory approval in both Japan and Brazil for its non‑browning banana variety, which was developed using precision gene editing.
The approvals clear the way for the banana to be imported, sold, and consumed in both countries, and grown in Brazil.
According to the company, the company now has regulatory determinations, notifications or exemptions for its products in eleven countries – including the USA, Canada and the Philippines – representing 70 per cent of the world’s banana production and 30 per cent of its consumer market.
“These approvals represent a major step forward in bringing innovative, waste‑reducing produce to consumers worldwide,” said Gilad Gershon, CEO of Tropic. “Japan and Brazil each play critical roles in the global fruit market, and these decisions reflect growing international confidence in new agricultural technologies designed for modern supply chains.”
Tropic’s non‑browning banana is said to extend the product’s so-called ‘green life’ by an additional 12 days and stay “fresh, yellow, and appetising” long after peeling and slicing, a major point of difference compared with the widely sold Cavendish variety, and one that promises to reduce food waste dramatically.
Launched commercially in 2025, the variety was the world’s first in bananas for more than 75 years.
The UK based company says it plans to launch a variety resistant to Panama Disease (TR4) in 2027.
