THE UNITED FRUIT COMPANY (UFCO)

Bananas were first brought to the U.S. by sailors on ships returning from the Caribbean. Their commercial importation into this country began around 1870. The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition played a major role in introducing bananas to the American public.

Bananas and other tropical fruits were still considered luxury goods during this period; however, by the turn of the century the demand by American consumers for this tropical yellow-skinned fruit was growing. By 1910 bananas were available and affordable to even those with meager economic means.

Bananas were one of the first fresh fruits that were available for consumption the year round.

The United Fruit Company came about as the result of an 1899 merger between a railroad entrepreneur-turned-banana- grower/exporter and The Boston Fruit Company.

United Fruit Co. Office in Cristobal Canal Zone circa 1920's

Both Minor C. Keith and The Boston Fruit Company were in the business of growing tropical fruit in the Caribbean and Central and Latin America and exporting them to the United States for sale. Their newly created company eventually came to be the largest banana growing company in history.

In 1900 they acquired the Fruit Dispatch Company, a fruit marketing company, which assured them of control over the distribution of bananas across the U.S.

United Fruit worked vigorously to increase the demand for bananas. Targeting housewives, they distributed booklets and pamphlets highlighting the nutritional benefits of the fruit, its economical price, the year-round availability and its value as a baby food.

The Shredded Wheat Company featured a 1910 magazine ad promoting their cereal with bananas and cream. Recipes were created utilizing bananas as an ingredient in entrees, breads, cakes, cookies, pies, desserts, ice creams, sherbets, milk shakes, sauces, toppings, salads and sandwiches. They began promoting dried banana chips in 1922.

Recipe booklets and advertisements gave instructions for baking, broiling and frying the tender fruit.

The company kept creating new ways to eat bananas as a method of increasing demand for their product. The Fruit Dispatch Company created a special advertising department devoted to promoting banana consumption in 1929. This same year, they also created an Education Department that printed educational material for school classrooms promoting banana consumption.

In the years to come, schools and teachers were inundated with literature and materials from United Fruit for use in the classroom. These materials promoted the healthy benefits of eating bananas.

In 1944 the advertising character Miss Chiquita Banana was created for an ad campaign. The cartoon character, created by Dik Browne, was based on the singer/actress Carmen Miranda.

The Chiquita brand trademark was officially registered in the U.S. in 1947.

Housewives and schoolteachers weren't the only ones targeted by the advertising. United Fruit Company reached out to the foodservice industry as well with the 1954 publication of a 52 page recipe booklet called Bananas: Recipes for Institutional Service and Menus.

United Fruit began putting the individual stickers with the brand name Chiquita on the fruit in 1962. They were the first company to brand a banana. The stickers were, and still are, applied to each banana by hand.

The increased availability and consumption of more processed food led to a lesser demand for fresh fruit. To cope with this change in consumer habits the company began to diversify.

In 1970, United Fruit merged with AMK-John Morrell, the meat packing company. The new company began doing business under the name United Brands.

Sources: United Fruit Historical Society

Bucheli, Marcelo, The Role of Demand in the Historical Development of the Banana Market, Stanford University, 2001.

THE UNITED FRUIT COMPANY (UFCO)

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