The Mercabarna company Plátanos Ruíz is a unique example of specialisation, and it is transferring this same business line to its stands in municipal markets.
Plátanos Ruiz is an expert, artisan family-run company that is unique in the way it ripens and showcases ‘Plátano de Canarias’, or Canary Island Bananas. Its personalised, artisanal ripening process is the direct result of its specialisation in a single product, the banana, and of its knowledge of the Plátano de Canarias, a delicate tropical fruit that needs to mature in ripening rooms, as it is cut when green on the plant in order to be able to last the journey to its destination.
Therefore, for example, La Platanería in the Carmelo Market in the city of Barcelona is a stand that is designed, solely and exclusively, for the sale and display of Canary Island bananas and plantains.
It has an extensive showcase with bananas from different categories and prices displayed without scuff marks or disorganised piles, and with a spectacular pyramid for the Plátano de Canarias Gourmet selection. It has a humidification system to keep the temperature and degree of humidity perfect, allowing the best conservation for the fruit to reach consumers’ homes in the best conditions. Aimed at improving the purchase experience, it has a screen installed as a promotion tool, where videos are shown about the banana’s origin, how they reach the table of the public at large… And in the near future, there will be recipes with bananas as one of the main ingredients. And along the same lines, there is a space for preparing delicious tastings, specially aimed at the youngest members of the family, to motivate this purchase experience, with bananas and chocolate cream and almond topping, banana cupcakes, banana daiquiris… All of this led by banana advisors who are true prescribers due to their knowledge and experience, who know how to treat the fruit and advise customers on the best colour of the fruit depending on when it is to be eaten.
La Platanería offers different ranges of Plátano de Canarias according to categories, defined by size and shape, scuffing at source or colour, and price, along with ecological bananas and plantains. All of them ripened by hand and with identical nutritional value.
With the incorporation of José María Ruiz to the company, a member of the family’s second generation, who has gathered all the knowledge held by his father, José Ruíz Carrión, the company is positioned as a reference in artisanal banana ripening for wholesale, retail and retail markets with their own stands and brands. After the latest refurbishments at the company’s installations in Mercabarna, the company has a warehouse with 12 chambers at different temperatures according to the requirements of bananas and plantains, with a ripening capacity of around 7,000,000 kilos per year, 2 points of sale in halls D and E of the Central Fruit and Vegetable Market at Mercabarna, and 4 stands in the municipal markets of El Carmelo, where La Platanería, Horta and Galvany are located in the city of Barcelona; and Collblanc can be found in the city of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
