Plantain cartons come from the banana trade. The construction is the same idea: a base that carries the load, a telescoping lid that slides over it, vent holes and hand holes cut through both, and a plastic liner between the fruit and the board. The GDV Transport Information Service describes banana cartons as folding telescope cartons of perforated corrugated board, with a single-wall lid, a double-wall base and perforated polyethylene bags as liners.
What changes is the weight. In the USDA Boston terminal market report of October 1, 2026, bananas are quoted in 40 lb cartons and plantains in 50 lb cartons; the Miami report of July 3, 2025 uses the same units. A plantain carton therefore carries roughly a quarter more fruit than a banana carton, usually as loose fingers rather than hands, and it does so at 90–95 % relative humidity for the whole voyage. That is the reason a plantain box should be ordered to its own specification. If you already buy banana cartons, our banana carton guide covers the shared construction in more detail.
The 50 lb carton dominates trade into the United States, but it is not the only pack in circulation. The table lists only formats we found in a published source, and names the source type for each.
| Format and market | Net weight | Typical count | Construction | Liner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. wholesale plantain carton (Colombia, Guatemala; green and yellow) | 50 lb (about 22.7 kg) | Not stated in the USDA reports | Corrugated carton; USDA reports give the weight only | Not stated |
| Ecuadorian barraganete export box | 50 lb / 22.67 kg net; about 53 lb gross | 55–65 fingers | Corrugated carton | Plastic bag, vacuum-packed (one exporter's description) |
| 22 kg box sold in Japan (Ecuadorian fruit) | 22 kg, stated by the seller as the weight including the box | 55–60 fingers | Box of 50 × 40 × 24 cm | Not stated |
| Plantains packed in a banana-type carton (FAO case study) | About 19.0 kg | Single fruits | Carton of 45 × 35 × 26 cm | Perforated plastic film |
| For comparison: standard banana carton | 40 lb in U.S. reports; about 18 kg | Hands or clusters | Two-piece telescopic carton, about 535 × 400 × 245 mm | Perforated or unperforated polyethylene bag |
Sources: USDA AMS terminal market reports for Boston (October 1, 2026) and Miami (July 3, 2025); Napofinca and Langley Export (Ecuadorian exporters); Plátanos Japón (importer listing); FAO Plantain Post-harvest Compendium; Wikipedia and GDV Transport Information Service for the banana carton. The Ecuadorian, Japanese and FAO rows each rest on one or two commercial or case-study sources, not on a standard. We could not verify a 40 lb plantain carton in any published source, so it is not listed; if your buyer asks for one, treat it as a custom size.
Three containers handle the fruit between the field and the customer. Only two of them go on the ship.
| Criterion | Plantain export carton | Banana export carton | PP corrugated box (field and harvest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual net weight | 50 lb (about 22.7 kg) for the U.S. market | 40 lb (about 18 kg) | By design |
| Fruit presentation | Loose fingers, 55–65 per box (Ecuadorian exporters) | Hands or clusters | Bunches, hands or fingers on the way to the packhouse |
| Construction | Two-piece telescopic corrugated carton with vent and hand holes | Two-piece telescopic corrugated carton; single-wall lid and double-wall base in the GDV description | Folded polypropylene corrugated sheet with hand and vent holes; folds flat when empty |
| Liner | Polyethylene bag; vacuum-packed in one exporter's description | Perforated bag (polypack) or unperforated evacuated bag (banavac) | Normally none; a loose liner or foam pad if the fruit scuffs |
| Behaviour at 90–95 % relative humidity | Board loses strength as it takes up moisture; the specification has to allow for it | Same | Does not absorb moisture; can be washed |
| Trips | One | One | Many, where the box returns to the farm |
| Role | Export and wholesale sale unit | Export and retail ripening unit | Harvest, field-to-packhouse and local delivery loops |
| Compression strength | Specify the BCT target for your stacking height and humidity; we do not print a generic number | Specify load per box and stack height | |
The reusable side of the operation is covered on the PP corrugated plastic boxes page and in the harvest bins cost guide.
Plantain peel is very sensitive to mechanical damage and to cold. The published guidance is consistent on the range and differs on the exact set point.
| Parameter | Published value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Storage and transit temperature, green fruit | 7.2–10 °C (45–50 °F) for up to 7 days; 10–12 °C (50–54 °F) for longer than 7 days | UC Davis |
| Carrying temperature in reefer containers | 10 °C green; 11–15 °C coloured fruit | Cargo Handbook |
| Relative humidity | 90–95 % (UC Davis); 85–90 % (Cargo Handbook) | UC Davis; Cargo Handbook |
| Chilling injury | Exposure to 7.2 °C (45 °F) or below for 7 or more days | UC Davis |
| Storage life | About 5 weeks green; 1–3 weeks coloured | Cargo Handbook |
| Controlled atmosphere | 2 % O₂ and 5–10 % CO₂; can extend storage to about 6 weeks | UC Davis; Cargo Handbook |
| Fresh-air ventilation setting | 25 m³/h | Cargo Handbook |
| Ripening | 100–150 ppm ethylene for 24–48 hours at 15–20 °C and 90–95 % relative humidity | UC Davis |
| Ethylene | Low production, high sensitivity; keep away from ripening produce | Cargo Handbook |
Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Research and Extension Center; Cargo Handbook. FAO's compendium mentions refrigerated containers at 8–9 °C to North America and Europe, and one Ecuadorian exporter states 7.2 °C. Agree the set point in writing with your buyer and carrier.
For the carton buyer, three things follow. First, the board spends days or weeks at high humidity, so strength has to be specified for those conditions. Second, the vent holes in the lid and base must line up when the box is closed and when boxes are stacked, or the cold air does not reach the fruit. Third, the liner decides how the fruit breathes: the banana trade separates perforated bags such as polypack (described in one patent as 0.7 mil polyethylene with punched holes) from unperforated banavac-type bags (1.0–1.5 mil), which are used when green life has to be extended. Liner options are on our banana bags page.
Ecuadorian plantain exporters publish two palletised loads for 50 lb boxes. Both use 20 pallets in a 40 ft reefer; the difference is six boxes per pallet.
| Load plan | Boxes per pallet | Pallets per 40 ft reefer | Boxes per container | Net fruit at 50 lb per box | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 48 | 20 | 960 | About 21.8 t | Napofinca; Langley Export |
| High | 54 | 20 | 1,080 | About 24.5 t | Rústica Premium; Langley Export |
Box and pallet counts are the exporters' own figures. The tonnages are our arithmetic (boxes × 22.68 kg) and exclude cartons, liners and pallets; at the 53 lb gross weight one exporter states, the boxes alone weigh about 23.1 t and 26.0 t.
| Origin or market | Published figure | What it means for packaging |
|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | 261.9 million kg and US$ 171.2 million of plantain exports in 2024 (HS 080310, Tridge), the highest value of any origin | The 50 lb barraganete box is the reference pack. A 50 lb box sold for a record US$ 20–22 in the Ecuadorian market in October 2025, against a historical US$ 3–4, as Moko disease and a switch to cocoa cut the El Carmen area from 55,000 ha to 35,000–40,000 ha (FreshPlaza) |
| Guatemala | 333.3 million kg and US$ 167.4 million in 2024 (Tridge), the highest volume | Guatemalan green and yellow plantains are quoted in 50 lb cartons at U.S. terminal markets |
| Colombia | Quoted in 50 lb cartons in Boston and Miami; green plantains at US$ 32–33 per carton in Boston on October 1, 2026 (Guatemala US$ 40) | Same carton unit as Ecuador and Guatemala for the U.S. market |
| Other origins shipping to the United States | USDA's weekly shipment report also lists Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Belize and Jamaica | Short sea transits, but the same 50 lb wholesale unit on arrival |
| Re-exporters | Netherlands 58.5 million kg, United States 30.3 million kg, Belgium 28.6 million kg in 2024 (Tridge) | Boxes are often re-palletised and shipped a second time, so they need strength in reserve |
Sources: Tridge (2024 customs data for HS 080310, a single commercial data provider; Colombia does not appear in its top ten, so treat the ranking as indicative); USDA AMS; FreshPlaza (October 30, 2025). We did not find a public plantain-only figure for U.S. imports: IndexBox reports 5.2 million tons for bananas and plantains combined in 2024, which is mostly bananas.
An enquiry with the items below can be quoted quickly and compared line by line between suppliers. Leaving out the board construction or the stacking height is the usual reason two quotations for "a 50 lb plantain box" are far apart.
| Item | What to send | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Net weight | 50 lb / 22.7 kg, or your buyer's unit; fingers per box if fixed | Sets the load the base has to carry |
| Inside dimensions | Length × width × height of the base, lid depth, or a sample box | Plantain box dimensions are not standardised; published examples range from 45 × 35 × 26 cm to 50 × 40 × 24 cm |
| Carton style | Two-piece full telescopic or other; glued or self-locking; hand or machine erection | Decides tooling and packhouse labour |
| Board grade | Number of plies for lid and base, flute, paper weights, moisture-resistant treatment if required | The largest part of the price |
| Compression target | The BCT target for your stacking height and humidity, and the test conditions | Strength at 90–95 % relative humidity is what protects the fruit |
| Ventilation | Number, size and position of vent and hand holes in lid and base; a drawing if you have one | Holes must align for cold air flow and they reduce strength |
| Print colours | Number of colours, panels printed, artwork files, barcode and lot-code area | Sets plate cost and print process |
| Liner bag | Perforated or unperforated, film thickness, bag dimensions, quantity per box | Liner and vent pattern work together |
| Pallet plan | Pallet footprint, boxes per pallet (48 or 54), corner boards and strapping | Confirms the outside dimensions and the stack load |
| Annual volume | Quantity per order and per year, shipping season, required delivery date | Sets the price break and production slot |
| Destination port | Port and Incoterm; cartons ship flat on pallets | Freight is a visible share of the landed cost of empty cartons |
| Documents | Certificates needed (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, FSC, SGS test report); sample requirement | Avoids a second round of questions |
Send the enquiry through the contact page, by email or on WhatsApp. A photo of your current box, flat and erected, with a tape measure next to it answers half of the table.
Fuxing Group is a packaging manufacturer with plants in Dongguan (China), Hai Phong (Vietnam) and Davao and Calamba (Philippines): 170,000 m² of plant area across the group and about 1,000 staff. For plantain programmes we make three things:
All are made to your drawing or sample, and we send samples before a bulk order. Our certifications are ISO 9001, ISO 14001, FSC and GMI, with SGS verification, and we reply to quotation requests within 12 hours. What we will not do is quote a price, a minimum quantity, a delivery date or a compression figure on this page: they depend on the dimensions, board, print and quantity in your RFQ. Our carton experience is in bananas; we do not grow, pack or trade plantains, and the weights, temperatures and trade figures above come from the published sources listed below, not from our own trials. Sea freight from Asia to Latin American packers is a real cost and lead-time item, so ask us for a landed quotation and compare it with your local supplier.
Send your box weight, dimensions, print and annual volume. Fuxing Group manufactures banana and plantain cartons, liner bags and PP corrugated plastic boxes in China, Vietnam and the Philippines, with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, FSC, GMI and SGS verification. Samples available. Quotation within 12 hours.
Quote on WhatsApp Email jacky@fuxinggroup.cn