The Cavendish Banana value chain involves growing, harvesting, packaging, transport, importing/wholesaling/ripening, distribution/retail, and consumption. From a vertically integrated structure stemming from control of multinational companies, the Philippines CARP (The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) redistributed corporate-owned agricultural land to farmer-workers, from 1987.
Due to CARP, even the big multinational companies(MNC) have to buy from cooperatives since their previous lands were redistributed. Some suppliers are relatives, and there are some relationships between suppliers who are in many years in the business.
Very few suppliers export directly because of the strict accreditation requirements by the BPI(Bureau of Plant Industry), so Agents/brokers play a big role within the industry. Big farms and multinational exporters have their own packing facilities for their names and brand. There is a partial oligopoly in the supply chain as small and medium individual farmers have learned how to process and export on their own.