G9 Cavendish Banana, Reefer Exports from India

G9 bananas are cut at hard-green maturity (typically 75–80%), so fruit withstands reefer transit and ripens under controlled conditions at the destination market.

Standard export cartons hold 13–13.5 kg net, packed as 4–6 hands with poly lining. A 40 ft reefer container carries approximately 1,540 cartons (about 20 MT).

Reefer containers run at 13–14°C with controlled ventilation, giving 30–40 days of transit and storage life, sufficient for all Gulf and Middle East routes. The range is narrower than it looks: above it, fruit begins ripening in transit; below roughly 13°C, bananas suffer chilling injury that dulls the skin and prevents them ripening evenly afterwards.

Yes. Fruit ships hard green by design, so it needs a ripening room, your own or a service provider’s, where ethylene is introduced under controlled temperature and airflow over roughly four to seven days. Confirm that capacity before booking a first container, since green fruit without ripening arrangements deteriorates without becoming saleable.

Caliper commonly falls around 39 to 46 mm and finger length roughly 15 to 23 cm, graded to the band your market takes. Because both are measured on a defined finger of the outer whorl, agree the measurement convention alongside the number when you place the order.

Banana is not a product that ships economically in part loads. Both the reefer freight economics and the handling requirements favour full container quantities, so one 40 ft reefer of approximately 20 MT is our minimum. If you need a smaller trial volume, tell us your market and we will discuss what is practical.

Sea transit to Gulf ports is typically in the region of one to two weeks from an Indian west coast port, well inside the thirty to forty days of life that correctly handled fruit carries. That margin is what makes the lane workable, and it is also why cutting is scheduled against the vessel date rather than in advance.

Phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, packing list and the bill of lading. For reefer cargo we would add one more to your list: require the temperature record from the voyage as a document rather than a favour after arrival, because without it a cold chain dispute cannot be resolved.

Four failures account for most claims: fruit ripening in transit because the set point was too warm or the cut too mature, chilling injury from running too cold, crown rot from inadequate treatment after de-handing, and uneven ripening from mixed maturity in one container. Agreeing the harvest stage and set point in writing addresses most of them.

Green. Bananas are climacteric, meaning they continue ripening after harvest in response to ethylene the fruit itself produces, so export fruit is cut before that reaction starts and ripened under control at destination. A container of export bananas looks unappetising at loading, and it is meant to.