Fyffes, Europe's second-biggest banana importer, announced on Thursday that it would freeze investmentin WorldofFruit.com - a web-based exchange for freshproduce, the Financial Times reports. The company said it needed to raise up to E100m ($94m) over the next few years to develop the site fully, but that venture capital interest had dried up. WorldofFruit also made redundant about half its 20 Dublin-based staff. WorldofFruit said: "Conservatism is a factor. There is a reluctance to embrace technology in an industry which is heavily dependent on personal relationships." Analysts expect B2B exchanges increasingly to come under pressure this year, the Financial Times continued.
