Indonesian urban consumers in big cities prefer cavendish banana more than before, signaled by the steady growth of demand which could rival other domestically grown banana variants such as ambon, mas, raja, barangan, susu, kepok and tanduk.
The cavendish has undergone a shifting perception from 'better looking, classier, more expensive, more engineered' into 'practical, universal, even more delicious,' beating ambon (closest resemblance) and raja variants, although still more expensive by at least 10%.
Domestic growers, especially big scale growers (e.g., SSN), are opening more planting areas, and more ventures are jumping into the business, nowadays even promoted using modern approaches as shown by 3 current brands: Sunpride, Frui, Halo, which advertise in supermarket chains. To fill the demand gap, the market could see more strategic partnerships between growers, venture capitalists, agriculture startups, e-groceries, and supply chain startups. Importing cavendish is not favored from perspectives of profit margin, complexities in handling, shelf-life management, and import quota allocation.