Until the 1950s, bananas were a delicacy. They only became a staple food with the invention of the banana carton in the mid-60s. The carton rationalised transport and simplified trade. Today, bananas are among the top-selling items in the supermarket. We Germans eat 12 kilos – per year. And a large part of the import still goes through the ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven. The banana has made northern German trading houses rich. Time for a balance sheet.