Fyffes

Fyffes plc (/faɪfs/ fyfs), an Irish fruit and fresh produce company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a fruit brand. It is most closely associated with the banana, although the brand is applied to a wide range of fruits, including the Fyffes Gold Pineapples and Fyffes melons. Fyffes is primarily involved in the production, procurement, shipping, ripening, distribution and marketing of bananas, pineapples and melons. Fyffes currently markets fruit in Europe and the United States, primarily under the Fyffes and Turbana brands.

History

In the 1880s, Thomas Fyffe, a London food wholesaler, went into partnership with a fruit dealer named Hudson who had connections in the Canary Islands. In 1888 they shipped their first cargo of bananas to England. Within five years the business had become so successful that they purchased land in the Canaries to be cultivated as banana plantations. Meanwhile, Elder Dempster & Company (a large shipping firm which traded in the Canaries) had observed the success of Fyffe & Hudson and followed suit. In 1898, Elder Dempster's fruit importing business was extended to Jamaica.