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Exotic fruits are increasingly in demand. Most come by ship, including absolute favorites like banana and avocado.
Giovanelli in Frauenfeld is currently busy. Giovanelli is one of the largest importers of fruits and vegetables. Chef Andreas Trinkler is currently checking a load of avocados and picking out various fruits from the stacked crates full of fruit: “They were delivered to Europe in containers by ship and are still hard,” he explains. They now migrate to special chambers where they continue to ripen. In the store they should be ready to eat.
The anxious wait for lychee
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Legend: IMAGO / Zoonar
Fresh lychees come mainly from Madagascar. In the run-up to Christmas, some shiploads come to Europe – and demand is huge, especially during the Christmas season. If there are delays or quality problems during transport, this has a direct impact on the lucrative business. Reason for retailers to wait anxiously for the first deliveries every year.
Most exotic fruits come to Europe by ship, to the major ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp or Genoa. From there they are mostly brought to Switzerland by truck, explains Christian Sohm. He is the director of Swisscofel, the association of Swiss fruit, vegetable and potato traders and is therefore also responsible for the import of fruit. “Only a few percent of the fruits arrive by plane, especially tree-ripened ones, which would not survive the long journey of days to weeks.”
Energy-rich truck transport
60 percent of the fruit in Swiss shops is imported. Switzerland’s most popular fruit, the banana, is also exotic. In 2022, almost 100,000 tons were delivered to Switzerland.
When fruits are imported from Africa, South America or Asia and ripen in Switzerland, energy is required. “You have to look at the entire transport chain,” says Niels Jungbluth, a specialist in life cycle assessments at ESU-Services. Ship transport would account for a small part of the burden; what is more important is the type and duration of transport by truck.
Fruit flown in or from greenhouses heated with fossil fuels are problematic for Jungbluth. Nevertheless, the expert emphasizes that fruits are generally healthy and important in winter. And compared to meat, the ecological balance is generally much better.
Echo of time. December 28, 2023, 6:00 p.m