Costa Rica's banana industry, recently ousted by tourism as the country's number one foreign currency earning industry, continues to expand to meet the demand of a growing international market. As you read this the bananas will be over at least 50,000 hectares.
Most growth is concentrated in the Atlantic lowlands.
Bananas have been part of the Caribbean landscape since 1870, when American entrepreneur Minor Keith shipped his first fruit stems to New Orleans. By the 1920s, much of the chaotic jungle south of Puerto Limon has been transformed into a vast expanse of bananas. Violent clashes with the banana workers unions continued to be the company's nemesis. In 1985, after the 72-day strike, United Fruit closed its operations in southwestern Costa Rica. The Standard Fruit Co. began productions in the Atlantic lowlands in 1956.