Philippines Becomes First Asian Country To Export Bananas To US

LOS ANGELES — The Philippines has officially become the first Asian country to export bananas to the United States, with the first shipment of the highland Cavendish variety from Bukidnon arriving at the Port of Long Beach last week.

“We’re excited to see our very own bananas in grocery stores in California soon,” Consul General Hellen Barber-de la Vega told the Inquirer after she inspected the products at the ripening warehouse on Sunday (Manila time). “We waited eight years for this to happen.”

The bananas are scheduled to be delivered to large retailers—including the giant supermarket chain Albertson’s and specialty stores Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods—as early as this Friday (Saturday in Manila), De la Vega said. “We’re just waiting for confirmation from the distributor.”

Seven metric tons of the bananas arrived on Sept. 9 at Long Beach in Los Angeles County as part of the 3,000 metric tons the US plans to import from the Philippines this year, the Philippine Embassy said in a statement.

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