2025 Sustainability Award Winners

Bananas are the cheapest fruit in shopping baskets, but few realize the human and environmental costs hiding behind these low prices. For decades, banana farmers have been subjected to low wages, unpaid overtime and poor working conditions, leading to a vicious cycle of generational poverty.

Equifruit, a certified B Corp and North America’s leading Fairtrade banana importer, is on a mission to transform the banana industry through its 100 percent Fairtrade commitment, advocating for a better deal for banana farmers and sustainability across the banana supply chain.

Since 2006, Equifruit has rejected the traditional banana market business model and secured long-term banana contracts with Fairtrade pricing, which reflects the cost of sustainable production and pays farmers fairly for their fruit.

For every case of bananas sold, Equifruit pays $1 to banana grower communities in Fairtrade Premium. This money goes into a communal fund for workers and farmers to use as they see fit, for social, environmental and economic projects, such as essential dental care and medical supplies, improved school facilities and upgrades to community housing. To date, Equifruit has contributed more than $4.7 million to growers in Fairtrade Premium.

This premium also has financed environmental sustainability initiatives in bananagrowing communities. In Ecuador, farmers have used the funds to set up a recycling facility, repurposing discarded plastic growing bags into pallet corner boards, reducing waste and generating additional farmer income. Other partners have used the funds to run a bio-fermentation industry that produces natural fertilizer to help replenish soil micronutrients.

Equifruit continues to invest in sustainability initiatives, including developing compostable packaging for bananas, which it is rolling out later this year. Equifruit also participates in industry advocacy including with BananaLink, a UK-based NGO and the World Banana Forum.

It is driven by the knowledge that every Fairtrade banana sold has a direct positive impact for banana farming communities through the minimum product price and Fairtrade Premium. As Equifruit scales its impact across North America, it will continue fostering industrywide change – one Fairtrade banana at a time.