Fyffes of bananas from overseas plantations. In May 1969, the company was renamed Fyffes Group Ltd, recognising the diversity and importance of the then (x-number) subsidiary companies. It became an Irish company following takeover by the Irish group FII plc in 1986. FII plc had been created when Torney Brothers & McCann, (the origins of that company were Charles McCann's apple exporting business founded in 1890) merged with United Fruit Importers Limited to form Fruit Importers of Ireland Limited in 1968. The combined company was initially known as FII Fyffes plc, but became simply Fyffes plc in 1989. In 2002 Fyffes
United Fruit Company international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics, such as Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. United Fruit had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism, and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the banana republics. After a period of financial decline, United Fruit was merged with Eli M. Black's AMK in 1970, to become the United Brands Company. In 1984,