Andrew W. Preston and nine others established the firm to ship bananas and other fruit from the West Indies to north-eastern America.

The major challenge for all banana importers was to get the highly perishable fruit to the American market before it spoiled.

"[4] Ship captain Lorenzo Dow Baker served as president of the company and manager of the tropical division.

"[7] "Andrew Preston chose the West Indies as the site for his entry into the banana exporting business.

"[6] "Correspondence between Andrew Preston ... and his buying agents in Jamaica reveals the former's concerns with maintaining quality in a competitive market place: '[T]he time is past when importers can make a profit on thin and ordinary fruit ... and I trust our Jamaica people will keep it in mind at all times.'"

In a subsequent letter, Preston acknowledged that his emphasis on quality was causing tension within the company but he refused to lower his standards: "I presume your people [in Jamaica] think we are disposed to criticize your selections but we are driven to it by the power of competition - naturally our best customers want the best fruit and I assure you we find it difficult to hold them with fruit of poorer quality than our competitors offer them.

As late as the 1880s, a fruit bunch of seven or more hands was considered a 'first,' meaning that it received the highest going market price.

Increasingly, fruit graders discounted and/or rejected seven- and six-hand bunches particularly during seasonal lulls in demand.

In 1899, Preston helped to transform his vision into reality by playing a central role in the formation of the United Fruit Company.

"[9] In 1899 Preston formed an agreement with Minor C. Keith, and merged the enterprise into the newly created United Fruit Company.