The Afrikanische Frucht-Compagnie (AFC) has purchased the former Inter Weichert site on Hamburg's Trostbrücke, a move necessitated by the city's rezoning of the wholesale market, which will soon affect the existing ripening plant. In April, the SFC Südamerikanische Frucht-Compagnie, a 100 per cent subsidiary of AFC, will commence operations. This new establishment will allow AFC to continue ripening bananas and other tropical fruits at its traditional location. 

The new ripening and logistics centre will ensure continued operation and provide room for capacity expansion. Previously, AFC faced the challenge of closing its ripening plant due to the wholesale market's impending conversion into a residential and commercial mixed development. 

With its eight ripening chambers, the plant could ripen over 9000 cartons of bananas for the retail system weekly. The Onkel Tuca brand, popular in the north and east of the republic, markets 7000 boxes per week regionally. AFC and SFC, which consider the ripening of tropical fruits their core business and offer logistics services for third parties, had to explore how to preserve these activities. The solution came in the form of purchasing the former Inter Weichert building on the wholesale market site.

The seller, Sumitomo subsidiary Fyffes, has fully integrated Inter Weichert into its group structures. 

Consequently, SFC will have access to a storage area of around 5500 square meters and cooling capacities for 900 pallets. 

With its 22 chambers, the ripening plant has a weekly capacity of about 30,000 cartons of bananas and other tropical fruits, especially avocados and, more recently, plantains. AFC and SFC Managing Director Stefan Heine sees significant potential in the emerging market for plantains.

"The new centre will secure both the maturation and distribution of our traditional Onkel Tuca brand for our customers in the long term," says SFC Co-Managing Director Florian Eßer. "We now have the opportunity to expand our capacities even further," adds Heine. As a classic profit centre, SFC can offer flexible solutions to other companies often struggling to obtain free maturation capacities. 

"In addition to ripening services, the focus is also on interim storage, order picking, and cross-docking," says Heine.

In the banana business, the company primarily sells conventional goods from Colombia and Ecuador, certified with at least one of the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade labels. 

Additionally, there are Fairtrade baby bananas and Fairtrade organic bananas from the Dominican Republic. AFC has significantly intensified the avocado ripening process that began three years ago. "This is where we can score very well when it comes to sustainability," Heine is convinced. This is because sourcing occurs exclusively in Colombia, where rainfall means no additional water is needed for cultivation, unlike in other countries.