> because most varieties of bananas in nature are ugly as hell and have seeds
I've had several different varieties besides the Cavendish; none of them were ugly or had seeds, and most of them tasted better than the Cavendish.
I suspect it's more about yield and where they can be grown and how well they ship (the others I've had were mostly in places close time here they were grown, though Manzanos sometimes show up in California markets as special items.) And the fact that the market is dominated by a couple corporate behemoths that don't really care to compete with themselves and would rather have two product lines (one organic, one not) than a larger number.
Many of those variants are related to the Cavendish or GM, and are not resistant to existing threats.
Those that are resistant, without seeds, with similar taste, often have thinner/weaker skins causing more spoilage/loss, lower shelf lives, are more expensive to harvest/store (grow in less dense groups) etc...
Those corporate behemoths would love to save money by not loosing good cropland to viruses that kill their crops, but the only solution to date that doesn't end up costing more elsewhere due to the issues mentioned above is GMO's and their potential to maintain those benefits while adding resistance (or apply those traits to other varieties that are already resistant).
I've had several different varieties besides the Cavendish; none of them were ugly or had seeds, and most of them tasted better than the Cavendish.
I suspect it's more about yield and where they can be grown and how well they ship (the others I've had were mostly in places close time here they were grown, though Manzanos sometimes show up in California markets as special items.) And the fact that the market is dominated by a couple corporate behemoths that don't really care to compete with themselves and would rather have two product lines (one organic, one not) than a larger number.