Fruits

At the beginning of the 20th century the total amount of fruit handled via Hamburg was about 0.5 percent of total goods handled. Then a rapid rise began importing bananas.

By the end of the Eighties far more than 1.5 million tons of imported fruit was loaded and discharged in Hamburg. Still today around 800,000 tons of bananas are handled at the fruit centre.

The fresh fruit comes mainly in reefer containers from countries in the southern hemisphere, among them New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Chile. The increased use of refrigerated containers makes it possible today to take the fruit directly to the food retailers.

Consequently the demand for cooling facilities in the Free Port has reduced continually over the last 15 years. Today the Hamburg fruit warehousing experts offer space for around 30,000 pallets.