United Fruit

American multinational corporation that dominated the banana trade in Central America in the first half of the 20th century — controlling transportation, land, and political systems across multiple countries, earning the term 'Banana Republic' for its political capture of host governments.

Established the original model of multinational corporate capture of developing-world political systems — using US government military intervention to protect its banana plantations — while simultaneously building the most efficient tropical agricultural supply chain in history.