Early 20th Century:Sayed Abbas was part of the food trade in Jeddah. 1930’s:Sayed Abdallah, son and successor of Sayed Abbas, was importing bananas to Jeddah. Early 1940’s:During the Second World War, food trade in Jeddah passed through a small boom. The increase in demand for food and serving the government as the main supplier of Jeddah internment camp helped the business grow. Late 1940’s:During the oil era, purchasing power rose, as well as the internal demand for fresh fruites. Early 1950’s:New contracts were signed with Eritrea and Ethiopia opening the way to the imports of fresh fruits and vegetables. Soon Lebanon, Egypt and other neighboring countries joined the trade. Sayed Abdallah built the first commercial cold stores in Jeddah and soon afterwards he bought a fleet of small refrigerated vessels to provide for his trade. Late 1950’s:Fruits were imported from Italy and other European countries. Early 1960’s:Cold stores were built in Riyadh, for the Central Region, and Dammam, for the Eastern Region. Somalia joined Eritrea as Sharbatly’s main source of Banana’s, while Oranges arrived from Egypt and Lebanon during the winter season and from Swaziland during the summer season. Apple arrived mostly from Lebanon. Sharbatly became and for several years remained the sole importer of “Chiquita” in Saudi Arabia. A new banana plantation was established in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia in partnership with the Ethiopian Development Bank and a group of banana ;growers from Somalia. Started importing bananas from Philippines. Late 1970’s:The concentration of demand, as the population of the kingdom reached over 10million, transformed Saudi Arabia into a modern, efficient, sophisticated market where Sharbatly was importing fruits from all over the world. 2004:The corporation was transformed into Mohammed Abdallah Sharbatly Co. Today:The company has over ten branches across the kingdom, as well as branches in both Bahrain and Dubai.