Juan Carlos Duarte, General Manager of Tecbaco, shares the company’s achievements and challenges in 2024.

Despite lower performance compared to the previous year, Tecbaco exported 9.7 million boxes of bananas, with 63% conventional bananas and 37% organic, to various international destinations. Tecbaco expects to close in 2024 with a net profit of approximately $20 billion and export around 20 million boxes of bananas.

El Niño phenomenon significantly affected Tecbaco’s operations in the first half. The company implemented strategies such as constant climate monitoring, the use of weather stations, efficient irrigation systems, and continuous communication with customers to mitigate the effects.

Although the normalization of food inflation has had a positive impact on production costs, the increase in the price of paper, energy, and fuel has raised operational costs. The drop in inflation has not fully offset these additional costs.

Tecbaco is investing in sustainability and quality with projects that include research, artificial intelligence, process automation, solar panel implementation, and machinery renewal. The company aims to expand its market share in Europe in the short and medium term.

Despite the drop in inflation, production costs remain high due to increased labor costs and the certifications required to export to Europe.