It’s all in the hips…

21 March 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News, Recipes

Well they say a race is often won or lost off the track, so it was nice to see Team Go Banana Go getting some well deserved airtime on TV3 this Sunday. Beautiful modeling of our shirts too, watch the clip.

The trolley is looking fast on its way to completion, though let’s hope the brakes are sorted in time for the test run this week. We certainly don’t want a banana split before the race (Ay! Ay! Did you see what we did there?? Sorry, we’ve got a bit of cabin fever from all the rain today).

Anyway, with the car on its way to getting sorted we’ve got to get the dietary preparation and training going. Any extra weight has got to be a good thing right? We think the Ripe Roast Banana cheesecake might just be the ticket.

For those that missed the earlier post, you can view the recipe here.

Meanwhile, we’re off to get baking.

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Stolen Girlfriends Club we like your style

18 March 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News

Next time you see someone sashaying down the aisle of your local supermarket, just double-check that you’re not in the middle of a fashion show.

Stolen Girlfriends Club presented their Spring 2011 collection ‘Untitled’ to shoppers, rather than the more usual setting of a catwalk. Fashion and fruit, a great combination.

Watch the full video here.

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Team GO Banana GO

17 March 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News

We’re always happy to back someone who’s game enough to dress up as a Gorilla and ride a banana through the Auckland Domain, which is why we’re sponsoring New Zealand’s next major sporting stars ‘Team GO Banana GO’ in the Red Bull trolley derby.

Chris, Richard, Taiela, David and Peter have demonstrated that classic Kiwi combination of dynamic athleticism, ingenuity and being just ever so slightly bananas. Fair play we say.

Selected as a top 100 finalist from 1,000’s of applicants, over the next few weeks the guys will be refining, polishing and making sure their vehicle is the slickest on the track.

We’ll be keeping up with them as they plan their tactics, and complete some serious training in order to hone their athletic skills.

You can also see a glimpse of them on Gillette Sport this Sunday 20th March between 4 and 6pm. Or check out their official supporters’ page here.

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Find a Fairtrade banana

15 March 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News

Our new All Good banana finder is up and running. If you’re looking for the closest store to you that stocks Fairtrade bananas just type in your address or zoom around our new banana finder map.

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Bumper passionfruit harvest – just bananas!

03 March 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News

Bananas are Kiwis’ favourite fruit and around 88% of typical kids’ lunch boxes contain one – that generates a lot of banana skins!

An eco-conscious classroom at Pt Chevalier Primary School in Auckland have taken to battling the glut of banana skins head on and come up with a novel way to recycle them.

The year 1 kids started collecting banana peels in class last year, chopping up them up and popping them under their passionfruit bushes– with resounding results.

“The passionfruit plants just took off,” says Lead Teacher for Education Keren Rego. “We’re convinced it’s the banana fertilizer and we’re determined to prove it.”

This autumn they will putting the theory to the test and taking the banana fertilizer project school wide. They will be collecting all of the schools’ banana peels in two special ‘banana skin bins’, sponsored by All Good Fairtrade Bananas.

“We’ll be planting a control garden this autumn where we will grow the same crop in a bed, say carrots and lettuce, half with banana fertilizer and half without to test the results,” says Keren.

Banana peels are a natural source of the phosphorus and potassium found in many expensive plant fertilizers. In a completely cost free alternative, the kids at Pt Chevalier Primary will now be collecting all of the banana skins in the school in two bright yellow skin bins.

“We chop up the collected skins into a largest bucket, mix them with soil, pop a lid on and keep them in the shade for six weeks. Then use as fertilizer in the garden!

“Bananas are definitely one of the most popular fruits in school lunchboxes. We have 588 children at the school and this equates to a lot of banana skins each day. This is a great way to recycle them and feed the garden at the same time,” says Keren.

Around 170 kids in the school are involved in the vege patch but all children will be encouraged to recycle their skins in the bright yellow bins.

Chris from says we’re delighted to donate the banana skin bins to help with the project. “The small farmers in El Guabo, Ecuador who produce our bananas are always looking for ways to farm their bananas more sustainably,” says Chris. “This is a nice way to see a sustainable approach at the other end of the chain, helping make sure nothing is going to waste.

“It sounds like the kids are on to a winner and could be marketing their own banana fertilizer by next summer. The next test will be to see if Fairtrade bananas help the vegetables grow bigger and stronger that their conventional counterparts.”

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We’re right behind the Free Store!

23 February 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News, Banana lovers

The Free Store Waitakere opened last week to a raft of media and some political debate. The store, based on a very successful concept tested in Wellington last year, is located at 398 Great North Road, Henderson. It will be open from 14 Feb to 11 March – collecting left over food from businesses throughout the City and dishing it out to those in need in the local community.

Judging by the line outside the store on the first day – over 200 people – there is a lot of need.

To concept has 2 main objectives. Recycling the waste stream of food from businesses that is perfectly good for eating but may not be picture perfect for sale (a few blemishes, upside down labels, one day old but still yummy etc). Then providing a judgement free avenue to redistribute this food to people in the local community – much like a food bank. The store is set up by Auckland City Council, run by volunteers and the food is all donated by local businesses – like us!

Thanks to all the businesses that are sending food this month and supporting the Free Store. We think it’s a great initiative and we’re really proud to be supporting it!

This is one of the articles debating some of the issues on Campbell Live with a cameo from our bananas…great to see them going to a good home!

Check out some pictures of the Free Store opening day on our facebook page.

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Happy Valentines Day Banana Lovers

14 February 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News

Since last Valentines Day we’ve helped 400 family farms in El Guabo Ecuador send their kids to school, get better healthcare, drink cleaner water and avoid using harmful chemicals on their bananas. We love what they do as much as we love their healthier, better tasting bananas and almost as much as we love you for supporting them.

Share your love for Fairtrade bananas by liking this link!

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‘Ahoy there’ crusaders in the South Seas

07 February 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News, General

We caught up this weekend with the awesome crusaders on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s (SSCS), the Steve Irwin, who have been defending our ocean wildlife and for a long time chasing the Japanese Whaling Ship the Nissan Maru in the Southern Ocean. The ship and crew have been stationed down in Wellington to stock up on supplies and were hanging out for some fresh fruit.  We think their work is pretty amazing and so we stocked them up with All Good Bananas to help them keep their energy up for the next part of their mission. The bananas were very well received. So our bananas will be helping the crew take on the whalers in the southern ocean when they leave Wellington in the next few days. Find our more about the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society…

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The ultimate summer festival food

01 February 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News

Huffer opened their shop for refreshments for Laneways revellers in Auckland yesterday. As the summer festival season gets into full stride we thought it was a good time to test out the ultimate in festival food – Fairtrade bananas! Nothing like a Fairtrade banana pitstop to get you through an afternoons moshing.

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If you do one thing this weekend…

28 January 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News, Recipes

Simon’s mum made the most delicious Roast Banana Cheesecake last week. It was to die for!

The recipe comes from the wonderful people at Ripe Deli on Richmond Road who have just launched a recipe book of all their favourites, Ripe Recipes. This particular cake is a favourite of Kiwi actor George Henare, so much so, that it’s been dubbed by the Ripe team as George’s Roast Banana Cheesecake.

You can buy the book at Ripe deli on Richmond Road, Auckland (who also use our bananas in their baking) or online.

The lovely Ange Redfern at Ripe has kindly let us publish the recipe on our blog (after we had hundreds of requests from twitter fans who wanted to make it). We highly recommend using Fairtrade bananas, of course, because they leave a much better taste in your mouth!

GEORGE’S ROAST BANANA CHEESECAKE from Ripe Recipes

Former head chef Louise Kelleher introduced this cheesecake to Ripe, which is now officially named after its biggest fan, George Henare. Louise’s caring and infectious personality is missed at Ripe (not to mention her piping bag skills!).

Serves 8-10

base

250g Malt, Gingernut or Digestive biscuits
100g butter, melted

roast banana FILLING

4 bananas
1kg cream cheese
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
6 eggs
½ cup (175g) maple syrup to glaze

TOPPING

1 banana
1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp white sugar

Preheat oven to 170°C.

Grease and line a 26cm spring form tin with baking paper.

To prepare the base: place the biscuits and butter into a food processor and blend until they form a wet sandy consistency. Transfer mixture into the lined tin and press down with the back of a spoon. Cover and chill in the fridge.

To prepare the filling: put the unpeeled bananas on a lined baking tray and bake until black and soft, approximately 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In the cleaned food processor bowl place the cream cheese, sugar and eggs and process until smooth and well combined.

Split and peel the cooled bananas and add to cream cheese mixture. Process until well combined.

Pour onto the chilled biscuit base and bake for 45 minutes. At this point give the tin a gentle jiggle – if the surface stays set together on top it’s ready to remove from the oven.

For best results chill in the fridge overnight.

To prepare the topping: peel and slice the banana in half lengthways. Melt the butter and sugar in a small frying pan. Add the banana and cook over a medium to high heat until slightly caramalised. Allow to cool.

Before releasing from the tin, pour over the maple syrup as a glaze and pile the banana on top.

Copyright Sally Greer GEORGES ROAST BANANA CHEESECAKE Ripe Recipes published by Beatnik.

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