Stall thieves go bananas

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG Market is rife with banana thieves who have forced traders to take lengthy security measures to protect their valuable stock.
Market greengrocers this week said people have resorted to stealing bananas since prices rocketed from $2 to $11 per kilo when cyclones wiped out 80 per cent of the nation’s crops in March.
Prima Produce stallholder John Giarrusso said the thefts had pressured him to secure his stock behind the checkout and keep most of it boxed up and out of sight.
“Of course we have security, we have to keep it inside the stand and the boxed stock under our bench,” he said.
“Customers are not happy at all. We have had to lower our banana standards, such as the size, to sell them affordably.”
L and A Farmer stallholder Lucas Farmer said the supply crisis meant market-goers were paying no less than $8 per kilo and up to $11, in contrast with $2 per kilo before the cyclones.
He said banana growers in other states were profiteering from the supply crisis by giving their best stock to the highest bidder, and leaving the “little guy”, and ultimately market-goers, with poor quality stock.
“It’s profiteering. They’re making a lot more money than I am.
“I’m selling at $8 per kilo but if I sell bananas at $7 per kilo I would not get my money back,” he said.
“Instead of competing with the guy at the next stand, I am competing with blokes in Sydney just to get bananas.”
Australian Banana Growers’ Council president Patrick Leahy said he couldn’t rule out profiteering in the banana industry.
“There would be a few growers trying to make the best of the situation but you can’t blame them for that,” he said.
“We have gone through a couple of years of average prices to say the best and a lot of people were doing it tough before the cyclone.”
But Mr Leahy said prices were more affected by supermarkets jacking up the cost in order to keep a steady supply of bananas.
“After the hurricane they had bananas starting $4.99 per kilo but fruit that was meant to last for weeks would sell out in days,” he said.
“They brought up the price in order to maintain their stock for four or five days.
“They just worked the price until it got to a level where there wasn’t buyer resistance and there was enough fruit to go round,” he said.