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{{Infobox company|name=United Fruit Company|founding_date=March 30, 1899|industry=[[Agriculture]]|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}} | {{Infobox company|name=United Fruit Company|founding_date=March 30, 1899|industry=[[Agriculture]]|predecessors=[[Boston Fruit Company]]<br>[[Tropical Trading & Transport]]|defunct=June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company)<br>August, 1984 (as United Brands)|successors=[[Chiquita Brands International]]}} | ||
The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' | The '''United Fruit Company''', later the '''United Brands Company''' was a [[United States of America|Statesian]] corporation responsible for [[neocolonialism]] in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], [[CIA]] directors [[Walter Bedell Smith]] and [[Allen Dulles]], President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and various members of [[United States Congress|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of State|State Department]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation|author=William Blum|year=2003|title=Killing Hope|chapter=Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched|page=74–80|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedfo2kzml5sodng4rtlybjdvertim3nybowazzlo6rztq6khixbv4?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Killing%20Hope_%20US%20Military%20and%20CIA%20Interventions%20Since%20World%20War%20II-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282003%29.pdf|city=London|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=1842773682}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Rich Cohen|year=2012|title=The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King}}</ref> In 1990, the company's name changed to '''Chiquita Brands International'''.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation|newspaper=L.A. Times Archives|title=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,...|date=1990-02-28|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-28-fi-1448-story.html|quote=Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.}}</ref> | ||
{{Quote|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.|Rich Cohen|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}} | {{Quote|By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. [[John Moors Cabot]], the American assistant secretary of state in charge of [[Guatemala]], was the brother of [[Thomas Cabot]], who had been the president of United Fruit. [[John Foster Dulles]], who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at [[Sullivan & Cromwell]]—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; [[Henry Cabot Lodge]], who was America’s ambassador to the [[UN]], was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.|Rich Cohen|The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King|Chapter 18, "Operation Success"}} | ||
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[[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" /> | [[Samuel Zemurray]], founder of the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
The [[Union of Banana Exporting Countries]] (UPEB) was formed in 1974.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|newspaper=AGROVOC Multilingual Thesaurus|title=UPEB|url=https://agrovoc.fao.org/browse/agrovoc/en/page/c_33565|quote=The Union of Banana Exporting Countries (Spanish: Unión de Países Exportadores de Banano or UPEB) was a cartel of Central and South American banana exporting countries established in 1974, inspired by OPEC. Its aim was to achieve better remuneration from the North American banana trade oligopoly, which consisted of three US companies. It ceased functioning in 1975.}}</ref> | |||
In 1975, then-chairman of United Brands, [[Eli M. Black]], fell to his death from his office on the 44th floor of the [[Pan Am]] building in [[New York City]], with his death deemed a suicide.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Web citation|author=Peter Kihss|newspaper=The New York Times|title=44‐Story Plunge Kills Head of United Brands|date=1975-02-04|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/04/archives/44story-plunge-kills-head-of-united-brands-united-brands-head.html}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=United Fruit Company History Project|title=The Life and Theatrical Death of Eli Black|url=https://www.unitedfruitcompany.com/biographies/the-life-and-theatrical-death-of-eli-black}}</ref> | |||
In 1990, the company's name was changed to Chiquita Brands International, basing the name on the long time mascot of United Fruit and United Brands.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
== Operations by country == | == Operations by country == | ||
Revision as of 06:11, 19 August 2026
United Fruit Company | |
|---|---|
| Industry | Agriculture |
| Founded | March 30, 1899 |
| Predecessors | Boston Fruit Company Tropical Trading & Transport |
| Defunct | June 30, 1970 (as United Fruit Company) August, 1984 (as United Brands) |
| Successors | Chiquita Brands International |
The United Fruit Company, later the United Brands Company was a Statesian corporation responsible for neocolonialism in Central America. It had close connections to U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, CIA directors Walter Bedell Smith and Allen Dulles, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and various members of Congress and the State Department.[1][2] In 1990, the company's name changed to Chiquita Brands International.[3]
By 1954, the network of connections had grown so extensive it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began. John Moors Cabot, the American assistant secretary of state in charge of Guatemala, was the brother of Thomas Cabot, who had been the president of United Fruit. John Foster Dulles, who represented United Fruit while he was a law partner at Sullivan & Cromwell—he negotiated that crucial U.F. deal with Guatemalan officials in the 1930s—was secretary of state under Eisenhower; his brother Allen, who did legal work for the company and sat on its board of directors, was the head of the CIA under Eisenhower; Henry Cabot Lodge, who was America’s ambassador to the UN, was a large owner of United Fruit stock; Ed Whitman, the United Fruit PR man, was married to Ann Whitman, Dwight Eisenhower’s personal secretary. You could not see these connections until you could—then you could not stop seeing them. Where did the interest of United Fruit end and the interest of the United States begin? It was impossible to tell.
— Rich Cohen, The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King, Chapter 18, "Operation Success"
History
The United Fruit Company was founded in 1899 with the merger of the Boston Fruit Company owned by Lorenzo Dow Baker and Andrew Preston, and the railroad company of Minor C. Keith, who planted bananas along his company's railways.[4][5]
By 1905, United Fruit controlled land in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras.[5]
United Fruit made company towns and paid workers in scrip to be used at the company store.[6]
Samuel Zemurray, founder of the Cuyamel Fruit Company, ran the United Fruit Company from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.[2]
The Union of Banana Exporting Countries (UPEB) was formed in 1974.[7]
In 1975, then-chairman of United Brands, Eli M. Black, fell to his death from his office on the 44th floor of the Pan Am building in New York City, with his death deemed a suicide.[2][8][9]
In 1990, the company's name was changed to Chiquita Brands International, basing the name on the long time mascot of United Fruit and United Brands.[3]
Operations by country
Guatemala
The United Fruit Company had a monopoly over bananas in Guatemala and controlled the country's telephones, telegraphs, railroads, and its only Atlantic port. In the early 1950s, President Jacobo Árbenz expropriated much of its land. He offered the company compensation, but the value was based on what it paid in taxes and was about 1/30th of what it was really worth. In March 1953, the company gave right-wing military officers $64,000 to fund a CIA-backed uprising against Árbenz. After the 1954 coup against Árbenz, the company regained all the land it lost in the land reform and banned banana workers' unions.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 William Blum (2003). Killing Hope: 'Guatemala 1953-1954: While the world watched' (pp. 74–80). [PDF] London: Zed Books. ISBN 1842773682
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rich Cohen (2012). The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana, long the symbol of United Fruit Co. and its successor company, United Brands, will finally take over as a corporate name. Chiquita Brands International Inc. will replace United Brands Co. as the name of the company on March 20. United Brands claims to be the largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetable products. Chiquita has figured prominently over the years in print and broadcast advertisements.”
"Chiquita Comes Into Her Own: Chiquita banana,..." (1990-02-28). L.A. Times Archives. - ↑ "The Chiquita Story". Chiquita.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kassandre Dwyer (2024-11-30). "Bananas & Brutality: The Twisted History of United Fruit" The Collector.
- ↑ Peter Chapman (2007). Bananas: how the United Fruit Company shaped the world. Canongate Books.
- ↑ “The Union of Banana Exporting Countries (Spanish: Unión de Países Exportadores de Banano or UPEB) was a cartel of Central and South American banana exporting countries established in 1974, inspired by OPEC. Its aim was to achieve better remuneration from the North American banana trade oligopoly, which consisted of three US companies. It ceased functioning in 1975.”
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. "UPEB" AGROVOC Multilingual Thesaurus. - ↑ Peter Kihss (1975-02-04). "44‐Story Plunge Kills Head of United Brands" The New York Times.
- ↑ "The Life and Theatrical Death of Eli Black". United Fruit Company History Project.