Banana plantation
Banana plants may grow with varying degrees of success in diverse climatic conditions, but commercial banana plantations are primarily found in equatorial regions, in banana exporting countries. The four leading banana export countries worldwide are Ecuador, Costa Rica, Philippines, and Colombia. Ecuador provides more than 33% of global banana exports. In 2004, banana producing countries totaled 130. Production, as well as exports and imports of bananas, are nonetheless concentrated in a few equatorial countries. 75% of total banana production in 2004 was generated in 10 counties. India, Ecuador, Brazil and China produced half of total bananas. Latin American and Caribbean countries led banana production up to the 1980s, and Asian nations took the lead in banana production during the 1990s. African production levels have remained mostly unchanged.
Turbana
As a pioneer in fair trade, Turbana was the first importer of fairtrade bananas in North America. The company's certified fruit comes from thirty Uniban-operated fairtrade-certified farms in Colombia that uphold the promise of food safety, consistent product quality, environmental sustainability, and excellent labor conditions. To date, Uniban is the largest certified grower of bananas in the world. Turbana and Uniban have utilized fair trade practices, even before certification existed, to provide financial and technical support, safe working conditions, economic development, education, fair prices and a better quality of life for their farmers. Turbana and Uniban work alongside fair trade's governing bodies to contribute a portion of each purchase to a social premium that will benefit the farm workers. This premium is invested in education, housing, microloans, health and sustainability projects in the growing regions.