View Full Version : Post offices and bananas
Akula
03-08-2018, 11:51 PM
Visited the post office to mail a letter and bought some stamps. It costs 50 cents to send a letter domestically. It costs 35 cents to send a postcard domestically. I then went to Publix supermarket and while going through the fruit section noticed that bananas all the way from Honduras cost 69 cents per lb.
Couple items came to mind:
1. How much does it cost to produce a banana in Honduras?
2. Anybody have the cost buildup from Honduras to the retail price of 69 cents per lb?
3. With ideal growing conditions (temp and rain), is it really possible to produce bananas commercially in the US to compete against imports?
4. We need to hire the guys, who run the banana industry, to run the US post office.
edwmax
03-09-2018, 07:54 AM
Visited the post office to mail a letter and bought some stamps. It costs 50 cents to send a letter domestically. It costs 35 cents to send a postcard domestically. I then went to Publix supermarket and while going through the fruit section noticed that bananas all the way from Honduras cost 69 cents per lb.
Couple items came to mind:
1. How much does it cost to produce a banana in Honduras?
2. Anybody have the cost buildup from Honduras to the retail price of 69 cents per lb?
3. With ideal growing conditions (temp and rain), is it really possible to produce bananas commercially in the US to compete against imports?
4. We need to hire the guys, who run the banana industry, to run the US post office.
The banana plantations are company owned and/or contracted (Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole, Fyffes, National Companies}. I believe they also own their own ships (most anyways) to transport bananas to the foreign markets.
I can agree with number 4 in principle, but the Banana Co would import a large number of green card immigrants to run the Post office and then pocket all the money they saved. ... Pres. Trump will not like it or allow it.
john_ny
03-09-2018, 08:56 PM
Bananas, locally, are .49 (sometimes .39) Whenever I have visited Florida, I found Publix to be expensive. I haven't sent a letter recently, (do everything on the internet)but you have a point.
geissene
03-11-2018, 08:15 AM
Bananas are only delivered to grocery stores and their box size / weight doesn't really change much.
The US mail, delivers to your door items of various shapes and weights.
It might be impossible to compete at the same price if you want daily bananas delivered to your mailbox along with letters...
But its a good thought!
edwmax
03-11-2018, 01:24 PM
To answer #2 ... The Banana Cos together control the prices. While the Companies compete against each other, but still prices are set by "supply & demand". The companies have the supply, and demand as much as they can get.
to answer #3: Yes ... It has been tried several time in Florida on a large scale. However, there may still be a few smaller operations making a living by selling at the Framers Markets.
bushwack
03-11-2018, 04:20 PM
found them for .11 cents a pound in S E Missouri here the other day
Akula
03-11-2018, 05:01 PM
found them for .11 cents a pound in S E Missouri here the other day
Where they about to go bad? Probably a cost leader type promotion in the Supermarket.
I guess if you are a US banana producer you have to come to the market with something that the Big Boys don't offer. Take a page out of the Craft Brew Industry and create some buzz with interesting varieties that are more difficult to ship long distances in order to capture premium prices. Identify the premium market/demand and work back to production. No way to compete on price with Big Banana.
cincinnana
03-12-2018, 06:51 PM
,
sputinc7
03-12-2018, 08:02 PM
I am amazed there is no company around doing "craft" bananas... Selling them over the internet even... I know a couple fruit companies are offering a few kinds, but their prices are so high they aren't getting around to too many people. Teach people what Gros Michel bananas are and they will pay premium prices for them. If I still lived in Illinois where there is no way I could grow my own, I would pay $2 a pound, maybe more to have them on occasion. (I am in Florida and still would..Other varieties as well.) Florida / Caribbean won't work, with the hurricanes and all. No way to have a reliable source... Great idea for someone with the capital and connections to think about.
cincinnana
03-12-2018, 08:11 PM
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Akula
03-12-2018, 09:26 PM
I am amazed there is no company around doing "craft" bananas... Selling them over the internet even... I know a couple fruit companies are offering a few kinds, but their prices are so high they aren't getting around to too many people. Teach people what Gros Michel bananas are and they will pay premium prices for them. If I still lived in Illinois where there is no way I could grow my own, I would pay $2 a pound, maybe more to have them on occasion. (I am in Florida and still would..Other varieties as well.) Florida / Caribbean won't work, with the hurricanes and all. No way to have a reliable source... Great idea for someone with the capital and connections to think about.
After reading your comment I found a company out of Miami called "Miami Fruit". They sell various locally grown fruit over the Internet at $100 to $200 for a 15lb box delivered by post. That's expensive!
https://www.miamifruit.org/collections/banana-pre-orders
sputinc7
03-12-2018, 10:09 PM
After reading your comment I found a company out of Miami called "Miami Fruit". They sell various locally grown fruit over the Internet at $100 to $200 for a 15lb box delivered by post. That's expensive!
https://www.miamifruit.org/collections/banana-pre-orders
Yep, that is one of them... outrageously expensive... 2-3 bucks a lb plus shipping, ok... Those prices, they should be ashamed, or arrested.
Cinn, please elaborate...
bananimal
07-09-2018, 06:52 PM
Visited the post office to mail a letter and bought some stamps. It costs 50 cents to send a letter domestically. It costs 35 cents to send a postcard domestically. I then went to Publix supermarket and while going through the fruit section noticed that bananas all the way from Honduras cost 69 cents per lb.
Couple items came to mind:
1. How much does it cost to produce a banana in Honduras?
2. Anybody have the cost buildup from Honduras to the retail price of 69 cents per lb?
3. With ideal growing conditions (temp and rain), is it really possible to produce bananas commercially in the US to compete against imports?
4. We need to hire the guys, who run the banana industry, to run the US post office.
I just sent a letter to my buddy in Texas. Stamp was 50 cents. WTH????
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