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BLAST FROM THE PAST
FYFFES CELEBRATES 130 YEARS
Call it a stroke of luck or a stroke of genius, but when Edward Wathen Fyffe discovered his “pot of gold” in the 1880s, it forever changed his life and the fresh produce industry.
Fyffe, then a tea trader in the United Kingdom, took his wife, Ida, to the Canary Islands to help her recover from tuberculosis. While there, a gleaming yellow fruit grown locally caught his eye: bananas.
From that moment of discovery, he knew he had something special. The only problem? Bananas were an unknown in Eng- land ... and transporting them would require a lot of ingenuity and work.
Fyffe made it happen, and last month marked the 130th an- niversary of the rst bananas sold at the Covent Garden market in London.
“By marking 130 years in the banana business, we are shin- ing the spotlight on the generations of wonderful people and partners who have contributed to our success over those years — and on those who will do so as we move forward,” says David McCann, Fyffes chairman.
Of course, Fyffe and the company didn’t stop there. From that humble moment in the Canary Islands, he built a produce giant.
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His company, now Fyffes, is one of the world’s largest banana importers and leading marketers of organic bananas. From its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, Fyffes ships 70 million boxes of bananas per year, as well as pineapples, mushrooms and more. It is also the No. 1 importer of off-shore melons to North America. The company also has stretched its reach globally, and with Japan’s Sumitomo Corp., merged the largest banana distributors in Asia and Europe.
Edward’s pioneering spirit still resonates through modern-day Fyffes, which has become a world leader in Fairtrade. From housing solutions and educational programs in Colombia, to a reforestation project in Colombia, to supporting local schools and communities, Fyffes is committed to “protecting the envi- ronment and enriching lives.”
To celebrate the 130th anniversary, Fyffes has launched a commemorative sticker campaign and has been blitzing social media with stories on the brand. Those special-edition stickers will be featured on all Fyffes bananas through early November. Fyffes also will be on hand at this month’s Fresh Summit 2018 in Orlando, FL, to showcase its journey of partnership and in- novation for more than a century. pb