<P> The banana has an extensive trade history starting with firms such as the Irish Fyffes and the US United Fruit Company ( now Chiquita ) at the end of the 19th century . For much of the 20th century , bananas and coffee dominated the export economies of Central America . In the 1930s , bananas and coffee made up as much as 75 % of the region 's exports . As late as 1960 , the two crops accounted for 67 % of the exports from the region . Though the two were grown in similar regions , they tended not to be distributed together . The United Fruit Company based its business almost entirely on the banana trade , because the coffee trade proved too difficult to control . The term `` banana republic '' has been applied to most countries in Central America , but from a strict economic perspective only Costa Rica , Honduras , and Panama had economies dominated by the banana trade . </P>
<P> The banana has an extensive trade history starting with firms such as the Irish Fyffes and the US United Fruit Company ( now Chiquita ) at the end of the 19th century . For much of the 20th century , bananas and coffee dominated the export economies of Central America . In the 1930s , bananas and coffee made up as much as 75 % of the region 's exports . As late as 1960 , the two crops accounted for 67 % of the exports from the region . Though the two were grown in similar regions , they tended not to be distributed together . The United Fruit Company based its business almost entirely on the banana trade , because the coffee trade proved too difficult to control . The term `` banana republic '' has been applied to most countries in Central America , but from a strict economic perspective only Costa Rica , Honduras , and Panama had economies dominated by the banana trade . </P>
when were bananas introduced to the united states
when were bananas introduced to the united states
end of the 19th century
end of the 19th century