We want to improve what we already know better and learn more about the fair and environmentally friendly cultivation of bananas in the humid tropics.
We want to improve what we already know better and learn more about the fair and environmentally friendly cultivation of bananas in the humid tropics.
We are 120 older and younger women and men, a colorful mixture from Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Germany – a liberal-minded team with courage, optimism and trust in God.
In the middle of the year 2015 we made our first movie to present you the atmosphere and the daily work on our banana farm.
In more than 25 years of our company’s history Sixaola Bananas have been certified many times and our farm has received several environmental awards.
Like every other company a banana farm can only be successful when there are many people working together hand in hand. The challenges are always the same, no matter if in Europe or on the tropical Caribbean coast:
What is the quality of cooperation like? How are goals achieved? Is it really unavoidable that everything is dominated by sales figure while people and the environment are neglected?
If we had intended to change the global system we would have collapsed right at the beginning. But every process of change begins on a small scale, where individuals can make a difference. Therefore we put our hearts and passion into changing a small-sized part of the world – the banana cultivation on our farm in the tropics.
The team of the Platanera Río Sixaola consists of 120 younger and older men and women, people from Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Germany. With courage, an open mind and confidence and trust in God we create an atmosphere of cooperation, diligence and permanent development. We learn from our mistakes in order to take further steps forward every single day.
Since our company’s formation in 1989 it is our primary objective to produce fairly and environmentally friendly. For this purpose we develop new practices of sustainable agriculture. We are particularly careful not to do damage to anything and anybody, to both the people and nature, and work as socially and ecologically acceptable as possible.
Which is definitely not an easy task on a banana farm!
"Accumulate your wealth without destroying its sources, then it will grow continuously.”
Siddhartha Gautama
The southeast of Costa Rica with its tropical Caribbean coast is a true paradise. Spoiling this wonderful piece of earth with chemicals and exploitative methods of agriculture would mean nothing less than ignoring its value.
Our farm is much more than a usual banana plantation. For more than a quarter of a century we have consistently made efforts to maintain the excellent soil quality, and not just conserve it, but also explicitly use sustainable agricultural practices that protect animals and plants, the soil as well as the water and climate. Nature rewards us by providing optimal growth and a constant yield!
Of course, our understanding of sustainability and ecology always includes the people, too. So we are also committed to the well-being of our employees, their families and the part of the country in which we work. Our values are responsibility, respect and empathy - the most important elements of our company’s philosophy.
Our bananas are produced "en Armonía con la Tierra y la Gente", in harmony with the people and nature. Our goal and our continuing effort is the cultivation of a completely sustainable banana - this wonderful and delightful yellow berry, this supplier of everything that a human body needs to be healthy and feel comfortable. This in all respects valuable tropical fruit deserves to be grown according to the highest social and ecological standards.
That’s the only way how our Sixaola Bananas can keep their promise: their sunny yellow smile. You can experience it if you eat one of our tropical fruits. That’s how bananas from our small paradise taste!
Every company has its own founding myth because without pioneers there would be no development. In October 1989 the German emigrant Volker Ribniger established the Platanera Río Sixaola in Bribri, Talamanca, Costa Rica. It only took three years till the first Sixaola Bananas could start their journey from Costa Rica to Hamburg.
Right from the beginning the environmentally friendly cultivation of the Sixaola Banana was the center of our interest. The excellent soil quality and the unique variety of plants and animals in our tropical paradise were to be preserved and, if possible, even improved. According to the motto “leave it better than you found it” we took measures for the preservation and protection of the environment. On initial testing areas the biological growth of Sixaola Bananas was tested - with success!
The sustainable cultivation was assessed and recognized by international production standards. The Sixaola Banana was the first cultivation worldwide to receive the Rainforest Alliance seal “ECO-OK”.
A pioneer remains pioneer – in the following years we assumed a pioneer role for evaluations of the banana cultivation in the tropics and could obtain certifications like “ISO 14001” or “EurepGAP” as the first farm worldwide. This was followed by a number of national and international awards for our fair and environmentally friendly work.
Today we are the only farm in Costa to produce biologically certified bananas on an area of 30 hectares. Our farm is a model company, and we try to encourage other producers to follow our example. We want to learn more, improve and continue our interesting and educational path. A quarter of a century of sustainable work in the tropics - a small time travel from 1989 until now!
6th of October 1989
Platanera Río Sixaola was founded by the German emigrant Volker Ribniger in Bribri, Talamanca on the Caribbean coast in the southeast of Costa Rica.
1992
For the first time, Sixaola Bananas cross the Atlantic and are shipped from the port of Limón, Costa Rica to Hamburg in the north of Germany.
1993
For the first time our cultivation is rated according to international production standards by Rainforest Alliance. As the first banana farm worldwide, we receive the certification "ECO-OK" with a rate of 100%.
1995
Our contributions to the improvement of our employees’ quality of life are recognized, among others by the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Central America (CODEHUCA), the Society for Quality Development (ASCALI) and the Costa Rican Ministry for Natural Resources, Energy and Mining (MIRENEM).
1995
Platanera Río Sixaola dedicates three hectares to the biological cultivation of the banana variety FHIA 2 - which was certified by Naturland, the German Association for Ecological Farming, in the year 1995.
1996
Work on our farm is rewarded with the environmental award "Guayacán" by which the Costa Rican Ministry for Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAE) recognizes effective contributions to the protection of the national environment.
1997
In the following year our environmentally friendly banana cultivation is rewarded with the Bandera Ecológica, translated ecological banner, by MINAE.
1997
As the very first plantation, Sixaola bananas are certified with the Max Havelaar seal ‘With the Plus for Everyone’ (today known as Fair Trade).
1998
Platanera Río Sixaola meets the criteria of the environmental management norm ISO 14001, as first farm worldwide.
1999
In the year 1999 we were rewarded with the Sello Verde of the Costa Rican Ministry for Environment MINAE for merits with regard to the protection of nature.
2003
As the first banana farm, Platanera Río Sixaola is certified by EurepGAP (today GlobalG.A.P.).
2008
Within the program Stop Climate Change our banana cultivation is certified as climate neutral by the German Society of Resource Protection (GfRS), as one of the first farms worldwide.
2014
Platanera Río Sixaola is the only Costa Rican banana farm whose biological banana cultivation of the varieties “Dátil” and “Gros Michel” covers an area of 30 hectares.
2015
We are the first national banana farm to receive the seal Marca País Esencial Costa Rica, awarded by the Costa Rican Institute for the Promotion of Foreign Trade (PROCOMER) for especially representative economic activities.
2015
After the installation of a solar system between April 2014 and March 2015, a positive climate balance is testified for our farm. Being he first banana farm to produce with regenerative energy, Platanera Río Sixaola receives the award "Facta non Verba – deeds, not words" by the program 100% Carbon Neutral®.
December 2015
We are the first company to receive the award Esencial Costa Rica for especially sustainable and representative economic activities. The price is awarded by PROCOMER and the Costa Rican Chamber of Foreign Trade (CADEXCO).
2020
Volker left Platanera Rio Sixaola at the end of 2020, which is now under new management.
This website is solely a documentation of his life’s work and no longer represents Platanera Rio Sixaola.
Volker is well and living, and he wishes to express his gratitude for the wonderful time, the collaboration, and the enduring spirit of sustainability.
