In the South American nation of Colombia, organized banana growing started at the end of the 19th century, when multinational banana companies arrived in the Magdalena and Urabá regions with the purpose of managing the production and the commercialization of this fruit in the country. By 1965, the multinational corporations such as United Brands (today Chiquita Brands International), Castle & Cook (today Dole Food Company) and Del Monte, controlled the technology, growing, transportation, marketing and the finances of the world banana market.

Previous attempts to create locally owned companies, which would sell bananas in the United States and Europe with the purpose of improving conditions for domestic growers, had been unsuccessful. The continued monopoly of the banana industry by multinationals however, led a prominent group of Colombians engaged in agricultural activities in the Urabá region to create "La Unión de Bananeros de Urabá S.A. ", on January 26, 1966 with the purpose of selling their fruit directly in international markets themselves.

In April of 1969, Unibán executed its first sales contract abroad, after being unable to reach a new agreement and as a response to a 20% decrease in price offered by United Brands to Colombian banana growers. That same year Colombia exported 32,000 tons of bananas, 88% by a subsidiary of United Brands and only 12% by Unibán. However, a year later Uniban's share rose to 58% of total banana exports.


Colombian banana growers found themselves attracted to and enthusiastic about Unibán's initial success. By investing in their own company, they were decreasing their dependence on foreign companies and intermediaries. In 1970, the Turbana Corporation was created as a marketing company for Unibán produce in the United States. For the first time, a group of Colombian growers created their own direct sales force to market their fruit in the North American market. Turbana's headquarters are based in Miami, Florida and the company operates two discharge port facilities, in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Gulfport, Mississippi, from which the company distributes fruit throughout the United States and Canada. Both port facilities have a complete operations staff and Quality Control Department as well as modern, state-of-the-art refrigerated warehouses. Today Turbana is one of the fruit industry´s most recognized and respected brands, a leading international distributor of fresh fruit products – known for excellent quality, freshness and reliability.

In 1975, Unibán entered a long-term commercial relationship with the Dutch importer Velleman & Tas International BV, today part of Fyffes Group, Europe 's leading distributor of fresh fruit. Fyffes has been the distributor of Unibán products in the European Union and Eastern Europe.

On June 3, 1982, Unibán changed its registered status to become an international marketing company, with its new name being: C.I. Unión de Bananeros de Urabá, S.A. - Unibán. Today Uniban operates in several different vertically integrated areas to better serve our customers and growers: agriculture, manufacturing, marketing, international sea transport as well as our important role in the development of the banana growing regions with our social foundation. Uniban provides all the services and products necessary to grow and export our premium quality fruit, such as technical support, fertilizers, custom cardboard boxes, disease and pest control products, plastic bags and refrigerated shipping to international markets. Uniban is involved in every step of the production process to insure our top quality produce. Uniban products meet all United States FDA and Homeland Security standards and regulations for the quality and safety of our produce. Uniban maintains all international quality specifications at each of our plantations with organized programs for food safety and handling. Rigorous quality controls and checks during harvest and shipping of our fruit guarantee our customers receive only the best premium quality produce.

Uniban is the #1 banana company in Colombia with a 32% market share in banana exports and a 43% market share in plantain exports in the world market. Our fruit is sold in many countries around the world. Principal markets consist of the European Union, North America and non-traditional markets such as the Mediterranean Region, Russia, China and the Middle East .

With nearly 40 years of experience, Uniban has established itself as one of the leaders in the global banana trade – a company respected for quality, innovation, flexibility, efficiency and community service.