And for once, it is not the market conditions which are making life tough for the products. Generally speaking, the markets are in good shape, or even very good. The avocado is being snapped up at sky-high prices, the banana is the springtime star of the shelves, and the mango and pineapple are giving a good account of themselves. In fact it is at the production stage that the malaise is setting in, in several respects; while not very new, they seems to be extending to unprecedented dimensions. I am referring to the social and environmental conditions of production. The banana, pineapple and avocado are bearing the cost of this newfound awareness in a wonderfully coordinated surge. For the banana, this was manifested by Lidl’s (rapidly deleted) Tweet of its decision to stop buying Ecuadorian bananas, following accusations made by Oxfam Germany against some producers (study of May 2016). For the pineapple, a cultivation extension project in south-west Costa Rica was halted at the insistence of associations. For the avocado, the sector has come down with palm oil syndrome, especially in Mexico: deforestation, excessive water consumption, etc. Of course, this list will not stop there. Should we conclude that we have entered the age of responsibility, after that of green and social washing? That is up to the companies, and if so, they need to show how they are planning to make the leap. Since the worst thing would be to lapse into the old routines, deny the evidence and continue to think of their opponents as “sandías” (watermelons): green on the outside and red on the inside. For agitators of all kinds, it is also time to think about the consequences on producers and their labourers of the condemnation campaigns. If Lidl implemented its threats, the most vulnerable links in the industry would be deprived of outlets and therefore revenue. As is often the case, the right path lies in consensus and in setting ambitious objectives, sealed in the form of contracts for progress between the upstream and downstream segments. And surely not in denial, ostracism or condemnation.
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