The UNFAO is conducting a major study into the European banana market to identify ways for smaller producers from the Dominican Republic to increase their market share.

The Dominican Republic is the third-biggest supplier of bananas into the UK, ­after Colombia and Costa Rica [Bananalink], but supply is currently dominated by large multinationals.

The study, which will also look at the Russian and US supply chains, will focus on the organic and Fairtrade markets, with a view to growing small producers' shares of these categories. This is because organic and Fairtrade are considered by the UNFAO to be higher growth areas than conventional bananas.

The study is part of a wider UN research project on banana production in the Dominican Republic.

In the first five months of 2010, the Dominican Republic accounted for 12% of UK banana imports [Bananalink].