Banana lovers with long memories know all too well what flooding in North Queensland can mean for the price of the lunch box staple.
For more than a week the region that accounts for almost 95 per cent of the national supply has been pummelled by intense rain and devastating flooding.
As growers around Ingham and Tully get their first chance to assess the damage, there is hope that the losses and supply disruption will not be as bad as first feared.
Growers in the north often refer to storm damage by name and will compare the flooding of Tropical Cyclone Jasper (2023) or Kirrily (2024) with the wind of Niran (2021) or the rain not seen since Winifred (1986).
Banana growers are relieved to find their crops intact. (Supplied: Gavin Eilers)
So far, however, nothing has compared to Tropical Cyclone Yasi.
In 2011, the category five system destroyed 90 per cent of the crop, causing an eye-watering surge in prices.
Back then, the damage was worse than first thought and the impact was felt for year, but this time producers are worried that low prices will hinder their recovery.
Gavin Eilers says most banana farms in North Queensland are operating as normal after recent flooding. (ABC News: Victoria Pengilley)
‘There’s no need to panic’
Gavin Eilers from Tropicana Farms on the Atherton Tableland said there were signs the crop has fared better than expected.
“Overall the fruit wasn’t affected,” he said.
“The paddocks … are wet and slippery and quite boggy, but the health of the trees themselves is holding in there.”
Mr Eilers said the majority of damage was to roads and irrigation infrastructure, but so far it had not stopped supply.
“Tropicana hasn’t stopped sending fruit,” Mr Eilers said.
“It’s been a little slow to market because they’re going the long way around … but it’s all systems go here.
“There’s still plenty of bananas … there’s no need to panic.”
Leon Collins’s banana farm in Tully after floodwater receded. (ABC News: Brendan Mounter)
‘Just can’t get them there’
The Australian Banana Growers’ Council says more than five million bananas are eaten every day in Australia.
Chairman Leon Collins, who farms near Tully, said major retailers were offering bananas at a discounted $2.50 per kilogram just before the storm.
“They’ve had a special running in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane,” he said.
“We got all our bananas either in trucks or on the road, we managed to shift produce early.”
Mr Collins said if there was any interruption to supply it would be due to damage to the Bruce Highway and the inland freight route rather than lost crops.
“The system has moved west and it has flooded and impacted the area too,” he said.
“We’ve got bananas everywhere in trucks waiting to go south on the inland roads.
“There’s going to be plenty more bananas on the market … we just can’t get them there.”
The road near Ollera Creek Bridge is closed because part of the bridge collapsed. (ABC News: Aaron Kelly)
Racing to reopen routes
Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said most of the inland roads north of the Flinders Highway were closed.
“We are working as quickly as we can to restore full services on our roads, with the Bruce Highway being the priority,” he said.
“We’ll use maritime assets if necessary to resupply towns if required in the coming days.”
Coles says some stores are oversupplied with bananas. (ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Meanwhile boxes of bananas that could not be transported south were rotting on supermarket shelves in the north.
The fruit on sale at Coles in Townsville was discounted to $2 a kilogram, which the supermarket said was due to excess supply.
“We have had bananas on specials in Queensland as a way to support our customers given the volume we had available,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“As the situation with the roads continues to evolve with ongoing flooding, we are working hard to get food back on the shelves … and deliveries of bananas out of Queensland to the rest of our store network.”
Bananas unable to be sent south have been going bad on supermarket shelves in Townsville. (ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
‘You’re going to see a gap’
Mr Collins said shoppers may still see some empty shelves after the trucks got moving, but that would only last about a week.
“You’ve got to remember, once fruit arrives you can’t just put it out on the shelves,” he said.
“It’s got to go into a ripening room, go through a ripening sequence of five, six days plus.”
“That’s when you’re going to see a gap in supply.”
Mr Collins said supply would then return to normal and he hoped prices would too.
“Banana growers are a very resilient mob — they have to be to deal with what we get dealt in the tropics,” he said.
“We’ve got to get the price back up to help pay for some of this damage and recovery that’s going to occur.”
