by Julian Roche

This book provides an introduction to the trade in the world's most popular fruit in a single convenient reference source.

Covering all aspects of the banana trade from patterns of production and consumption to pricing trends, from details of the companies involved to consideration of international political constraints, this book will be a useful reference for all professionals involved in this business.

Contents

1. Bananas
   • Physical characteristics
   • Botany
   • The plant
   • Harvesting, transportation and handling
   • Research

2. Production
   • Origins of bananas
   • Global production

3. History of the world trade
   • North American imports
   • European imports
   • Asian markets

4. Banana imports and consumption
   • Global imports
   • The Americas
   • Europe
   • Asia

5. International companies
   • Role of the multinationals
   • Chiquita
   • Dole
   • Del Monte
   • Fyffes/Geest
   • National companies
   • The other organizations involved

6. Production to individual countries
   • Central and South America
   • The Caribbean
   • Africa
   • Asia

7. The EU banana regime
   • The regime
   • The WTO case and its aftermath

8. The reefer business
   • The scale of the business
   • Pallet or container?

9. Costs and prices
   • Production costs
   • Prices
   • Forecasting prices

10. How bananas are traded
    • Contracts
    • Forward selling and reasons for the absence of a futures market
    • Personnel

11. The future
    • The international trade in the late 1990s

Useful Web Sites
Index

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