| From the moment of planting, all our bananas
are carefully monitored, nurtured, and grown under perfect conditions.
To avoid damage and future bruises, we stress minimum direct
handling. During growth, they are plastic-bagged for greater
protection and pest control, which creates a mini greenhouse
environment for each stalk. The bananas remain bagged until
they are harvested and transported by cable to the packing plant.
Once at the plant, the bananas are washed, weighed, and labeled.
Then they are gently packed in boxes with special padding
between each layer. Every Turbana banana is carefully examined
during every step to assure perfection.
Unitizing keeps Turbana bananas perfect
Turbana was the first company in the United States to be 100%
unitized. The individually packed boxes are stacked on a wooden
pallet, 48 boxes per unit, and protected with corner posts
and secure strapping. From this moment on, no one handles
the bananas until they arrive at our customers' ripening rooms,
which means they do not get pawed, handled, bruised, or ripped
apart.
Ripening Room Checklist:
- Is it air tight?
- Does it have refrigeration capacity to remove the heat
of respiration?
- Does it have the air velocity to remove heat from boxes?
- Are the thermostat controls accurate?
- Is the humidity maintained at 85% minimum?
- Are the air circulation patterns good?
Retailer's guide to ripeness
and handling of Turbana bananas:
Important reminders in the ripening
procedure:
- Fruit should be loaded into the ripening rooms as soon
as possible upon arrival at warehouse.
- Pulp temperature should be stabilized at temperature required
for ripening cycle.
- To assure even and consistent ripening, ethylene gas should
be introduced within 48 hours of arrival and rooms closed
for 24 hours.
- After 24-hour gassing, rooms should be monitored once
or twice a day, and thermostats adjusted to maintain proper
temperature.
- Pulp temperature at or below 56F can produce chilling.
- Bananas should be removed from the ripening room as close
to scheduled delivery time as possible, and never held in
an area without adequate temperature control.
- Bananas should be held at desired pulp temperature in
delivery trucks, and not exposed to temperatures below 56F.
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