The banana journeyed to New Yoprk largely at the behest of Teddy Georgallas, part owner of Banana Distributors of New York, which operates out of a warehouse on Drake Street in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx.

At the Korean market on Broadway and 87th Street, the banana sells for 59 cents per pound, roughly 25 cents for a banana, which is amazing when you think about all it takes to get it here. Teddy Georgallas is one of the few men who does think about it -- not just this banana, but 100 million more like it.

Bananas are also grown in other banana republics (the nations, not the boutiques) such as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico and Haiti.

The bananas Georgallas trades are grown on plantations in Ecuador by independent farmers who sell their crop to Pacific Fruit, a company owned by the Naboa family.

Bananas are bred so they grow green on the tree. When they are picked, the bananas are initially an inedible, latex-like substance inside a banana skin. This allows for easier long-distance shipping.

Only after the banana reaches New York are the bananas ripened with the use of heat, humidity and a ripening agent called ethylene, according to Ira Cohen, a produce distributor in Hunts Point.

The brand name Bonita, for instance, is shipped to the United States by the Pacific Fruit company.

After a 12- to 14-day journey, the bananas arrive at a port in Staten Island, where Banana Distributors takes delivery. Off the boat the bananas are "full green" and the key to the wholesale banana trade is the ripening.

The ripening is done as close as possible to the final destination.

-NEXT-

Bananas

the bare facts

Bananas are America's-- and the world's--number one selling fruit. And the key to a good banana is a good ship.

It normally takes about two to two-and-a-half weeks between the time a banana is harvested and the time it reaches a local grocery store shelf.

Bananas are ripe when brown spots begin showing on the peel. Yellow bananas have a sweeter flavor and softer texture than green tipped bananas.

Refrigerated bananas ripen more slowly. Banana-eaters in a hurry should put the fruit in a brown paper bag.