The new Banana Processing Centre was inaugurated today by the President of Madeira. Located in the parish of São Martinho, it cost 14.2 million euros to build and can process 100 tonnes of bananas per day along six processing lines, (five conventional and one biological).
With the creation of a second banana processing unit, the first one opened in Ponta do Sol (Madeira Banana Centre) in 2022, now means that 150 tonnes of bananas can be processed in the region per day.
During his speech, the President said:
“I have never allowed the deregulation of the market, for the simple circumstance that what happened in the past cannot happen again in Madeira,” he argued, claiming that today, “the requirements of the export market are such that we need to have a banana processed, certified and, above all, packaged to meet consumption and distribution health and safety standards.”
With Madeira being able to produce 24,2023 tons this year alone, Miguel Albuquerque said that to safeguard regional interests in the national and European market, the Regional Government is working with Spain and France to protect the interests of the region’s banana production.
Europe consumes, on average, seven million tonnes of bananas each year.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
