As a socially responsible, grower-owned company, Turbana realizes that sustainability of its crop and the people who produce it is paramount to continued success. Turbana focuses on creating win-win partnerships with retailers and their communities that seek not only to promote positive change, but also to provide a boost to the sales of its retail partners.

“Our bananas transform lives” said Marketing Director Marion Tabard.“That’s our reason, our purpose, what motivates us.” “The banana is the vehicle that allows us to have a positive impact on the community whether in Colombia or in our retail partners’ communities.” Turbana is well-known for its work through its social foundation Fundauniban, which empowers banana-growing communities in Colombia to improve quality of life via schools, clinics and infrastructure. One favored program is “One Laptop Per Child,” which makes durable, solar-powered, internet-enabled computers available to children and families in remote regions.

A KEEN program participant flashes his best banana smile for the camera at Turbana’s recent promotional event in New York. Stateside, Turbana looks for opportunities to help in the communities served by its retail partners. A year ago, ShopRite wanted to promote plantains. Turbana joined forces with Weber and created the “Grillin’ Goodness with Weber & Turbana” promotion, showing consumers how to add plantains to their outdoor summer fun.

Prizes provide motivation for shoppers — as did the portion of proceeds donated to local schools for the “Learning Through Gardening” program. The hashtag #grillinggoodness created 5 million impressions in two months and plantain sales soared 300 percent during the event.

“We turned a simple promotion into an experiential event. It empowered the shoppers — just by buying plantains they were helping local schools and their own children. For ShopRite, it was a way to strengthen the bond with shoppers and the local community,” Tabard said. “When we do a specific promotion, it’s not just what happens in the store — through social media, there’s such an opportunity to engage with shoppers, to establish connections before they go to the store. Then when shoppers have an interaction with a brand at store level, that creates a stronger connection with both the brand and the store itself. It’s another way to support our retail partners in their outreach efforts to their community.”

Turbana also engages consumers and partners via its pledge to transparency. “We are really focused on transparency. It’s a consumer trend that keeps rising, consumers are more and more educated shoppers and they want to know where their food comes from, the conditions in which it is produced and harvested, to make an educated decision. This is also an opportunity for retailers to show the source with integrity,” Tabard said.

Turbana has an advanced QR program featured on each Turbana banana cluster that allows consumers to discover the specific farm where that particular banana cluster was harvested. "When you scan the QR code, you discover the farm profile, the banana tells you its story" Tabard said. "You get to know the personal stories of the workers whose lives have been impacted by some of the programs run by our social foundation. For every purchase, there's a portion that's invested in the community. The QR program gives us a chance to thank the community and empower shoppers. You see for yourself how you transform people’s lives when you buy Turbana bananas.”