No one has summed up more forcefully the contrast between past and present attitudes of those responsible for the banana industry than Cosimo Fat. This was in a statement attributed to him shortly after he first became associated with the United Fruit Company as Managing Director after a long career as one of the most colorful banana pioneers and one of United's most formidable rivals. In his reference to the past he clearly was speaking of banana pioneers generally rather than of the company he had just joined when he said: "I feel guilty about some of the things we did ... all we cared about was dividends. Well, you can't do business that way today. We have learned that what's best for the systems we operate in is best for the company. Maybe we can't make the people love us, but we can make ourselves so useful to them, that they will want us to stay." This frank and deeply felt expression of attitude is still dominant today. Through mutual understanding between the company and the people and their governments, a new, clear and mutually profitable relationship is evolving.