Kevin

The typical banana fruit that I have seen for sale in stores is the Chiquita brand - is this the cultivar name, or the brand? What type is the 'typical' banana that is usually found in grocery stores?

Gabe15

It is a brand, the variety is 'Gran Nain'. Sometimes this variety is also called 'Chiquita', but only because of the popularity of the brand that grows it. Other companies grow this variety too. It is a type of Cavendish banana.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

austinl01

What about Dole?

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Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Abnshrek

Chiquita & Gran Nain are synonymous. Think they grow a lil slower than my DC's but a sturdy plant.

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

Bananaman88

Any of the standard-sized yellow bananas with a Dole sticker should be 'Grand Nain' as well. Of course, Dole also has the baby bananas and the red bananas as well...and there is a thread on both of those here somewhere.

TommyMacLuckie

It is my understanding, based on how the language is used in various publications I've read, that all commercial bananas that are Grand Nains (also spelled Grand Naine and Gran Nain) are not necessarilyor might not always be Grand Nains but could also be Williams, Robusta or...I forget off hand.

Any truth to that? I've always wondered. I know bananas are similar but there really can't be another banana plant out there that has almost the exact same fruit as a Grand Nain, right? Any of those other commercial bananas that are mentioned in various places similar fruit wise (size, shape, etc) to the Grand Nain?

Gabe15

'Gran Nain' is a specific variety of Cavendish, though I don't doubt the name is used as if it is a group in some publictions. All Cavendish (of which there are many) have a very similar fruit, consumers might not be able to tell them apart but the various Cavendish cultivars are indeed different. The cultivars mainly differ in horticultural traits such as plant height, bunch size, fruit size, growth rate etc...

I have my doubts as to whether all of the big commercial companies are really using 'Gran Nain' (sometimes Dole and Chiquita bananas actually look rather different side-by-side), but it is hard to know what they are using because if you ask them (which I have) the response is always "Cavendish" which is not a variety, but a subgroup containing many different varieties.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.