Banana prices unbending as trees suffer cyclone 'shock'

Queensland banana trees that withstood cyclone Yasi in February have produced smaller and fewer bananas than hoped as they struggled to recover from the ''shock'' of the tempest, the Australian Banana Growers Council chief executive officer, Jonathan Eccles, said.

''It seems funny to say it, but the cyclone caused the plants to go into a type of shock and they are still recovering,'' Mr Eccles said.

Banana lovers, now paying up to $15 a kilogram, will have to wait until late September to see prices drop. When there is an oversupply of bananas they can sell for as little as $2 a kilogram.

Mr Eccles said the council was negotiating a two-month multimedia deal to herald the return of the banana.

''The Banana Bites Back is what I am calling it for now,'' Mr Eccles said.

He said the campaign was in its early stages, but was necessary to remind consumers why the bananas have been so expensive.

The council, with Horticulture Australia, has also started a three-year advertising campaign to woo 18 to 39-year-old consumers who traditionally do not buy bananas. Mr Eccles

said 95 per cent of mothers with children at home bought bananas, but only about 75 per cent of young adults did.

''We have struggled to get that group to buy bananas as a snack fruit; they seem to buy energy drinks and muesli or energy bars,'' Mr Eccles said.

''Even at the high price of $3 for a single banana, it is about the same or less than those other snacks. It is a high-energy, low-fat snack.''

The campaign may be working - the Australian Bananas Facebook page is ''liked'' by nearly 14,000 fans, putting it in the top 5 per cent of popular Facebook pages.

Imported fruits were selling for less than Australian bananas this weekend. La Manna Fresh manager Cosimo Patti said unblemished, extra-large bananas were $13 a kilogram compared to white cherries from the United States at just $10 a kilo.

''Everyone wants to know when [bananas] are coming down in price,'' he said. ''Some people will buy a kilo and say they need security [guards] to take them home.''

When bananas are cheap, at $2 to $3 a kilogram, Mr Patti said he sold up to 500 boxes a week, but current prices meant he was only shifting about 200 boxes a week.