Hungary: Bananas are outrageously cheap, but that may slowly change

Bananas come to us literally from the other side of the world, from Ecuador, which is still only a third more expensive than, for example, locally grown apples. How is this possible and how long can it be sustained? According to KSH data, the Hungarian population consumes nearly 10 kg of apples per person and 8 kg of bananas per year. The ratio is surprising, mainly because the former fruit is also grown here, and the latter is imported from faraway lands (primarily from Ecuador). There is some difference in the price, as (also based on KSH data) in August 2023, the average consumer price of an apple was 536 HUF/kg, while that of a southern fruit was 715. Bananas are therefore a third more expensive - only, we might add, taking into account the long journey they travel and how many hands it goes through before it reaches us from the South American production site. "The companies that import to Europe are themselves in contact with banana ripeners and retailers. In Europe, the ...