The Cavendish subgroup is the most widely grown group of bananas since it includes the cultivars that dominate the international trade in bananas (e.g. Grande Naine, Williams and Valery) and as such have set the standards in terms of taste, yield and post-harvest characteristics expected of an export banana. They are also increasingly grown for domestic markets[1]. In 2016, Cavendish cultivars accounted for 51% of the global production of bananas, which includes the 34% produced for domestic markets and the 17% grown for export. Their domination of the international trade started in the late 1950s when they were selected to replace Gros Michel, whose susceptibility to Fusarium wilt precluded its cultivation in large commercial plantations. Although Cavendish cultivars are resistant to the race 1 strains of the fungus that causes the disease, they are susceptible to tropical race 4.

The name Cavendish is derived from the Latin name given in 1837 to a greenhouse specimen in honour of the owner of the plant, the Duke of Devonshire whose family name is Cavendish. The British botanist Ernest Cheesman gave the name Cavendish to the group of banana plants at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad that was connected to the greenhouse specimen "by a series of intergrading mutant forms".