Where do Equal Exchange bananas come from?

Equal Exchange sources bananas from small farmer cooperatives in the Piura region of Peru (CEPIBO cooperative), and the El Oro region of Ecuador (El Guabo cooperative). Piura is an arid climate while El Oro tends to receive more rain and is more humid. Bananas need hot temperatures year round in order to grow. These farmer-owned cooperatives in Piura and El Oro share resources within their democratic cooperatives in order to have access to the export market. The bananas travel on large ocean steamships through the Panama Canal, up the East Coast of the United States, where they arrive at the Port of New York. From there, they are allocated to produce distributors and ripeners. After ripening for 3-5 days, they are distributed to stores. To learn more about the supply chain and the farmers who grow your bananas, watch our video.