Background                

Organized banana cultivation in Colombia began at the end of the 19th century when the transnational banana companies came to the Magdalena region and later to Uraba to improve production and commercialization of this fruit in the country. In 1965 the multinationals United Brands (Chiquita), Castle & Cooke (Dole) and Delmonte, controlled the technology, cultivation, transportation, marketing and finances of bananas in the world.

Until then, attempts to establish regional companies to sell banana in the United States and Europe in order to improve the conditions of the producers, had been unsuccessful. This monopoly of the banana industry led an outstanding group of Colombians involved in agricultural and farming activities in the region of Uraba to establish Unión de Bananeros de Uraba S.A., on January 26, 1966 to sell the fruit in international markets.

In April 1969 Uniban signed the first contract for sales overseas, as a result of a decrease of 20% over the price being offered by United Brands to Colombian banana producers. That same year, Colombia next 40 32,000 pounds of banana, of which 88% came from Frutera de Sevilla, a subsidiary of United Brands and only 12% from Uniban. One year later, the company's share increased to 58% of total exports.