“In the 1970s and 1980s, the banana trade came to symbolise the injustices facing both plantation workers and small producers in developing countries. The ‘banana republics’ (Guatemala, Honduras, Panama etc.) were still controlled by big companies who maintained absolute control over the trade and the lives of the weakest participants in it. This ‘green gold’ of the Caribbean that small producers were legally obliged to sell to one British company, at a price imposed by the company, resulted in ‘a licence to print money’ as a Del Monte executive declared in 1990. The new five big banana traders that together account for over 80% of the world banana trade are Chiquita (US based), Dole (US based), Fyffes (Ireland), Del Monte (US based) and Noboa (Ecuador)…”
– Banana Link