Kiwis consume more bananas per person than almost any other country in the world.
But a new report shows just seven percent of bananas in New Zealand are ethically sourced, and overseas growers in Ecuador and the Philippines are feeling the pinch.
Kiwis eat more than 18 kilograms of bananas per person each year.
"We lag behind a lot of the European retailers" in providing ethically sourced bananas, says Pravin Sawmy from Fairtrade New Zealand.
Just one in 14 bananas sold here carries a fair-trade guarantee, which Mr Sawmy says is the "guarantee that a fair-trade price and a premium has been received by those producers and it's making a tangible difference to their lives".
For every dollar spent on the average banana, just 18c goes to farmers and workers in plantations overseas.
In the UK, major supermarket chains like Waitrose and Sainsbury's only sell fair-trade bananas, but such commitments are hard to find here.
Commonsense Organics is one of the few. It only stocks fair-trade bananas and it has done so for the past five years.
"Every time you eat something, there's so much more behind it," says Michael Camilleri from Commonsense Organics.
"Someone's produced that product, and these farmers are working very hard for very little, and something like fair-trade really protects that and makes it a sustainable thing."
It wants others stores to follow its lead to ensure those on banana plantations get a fair slice of our favourite fruit.
Newshub.
