29 Facts About Chiquita Brands

Chiquita Brands International Sarl, formerly known as Chiquita Brands International Inc, is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce.

Chiquita Brands operates under a number of subsidiary brand names, including the flagship Chiquita brand and Fresh Express salads.

Chiquita Brands is the leading distributor of bananas in the United States.

Chiquita Brands responded by intensively lobbying the U S government to intervene and mounting a misinformation campaign to portray the Guatemalan government as communist.

In 1980, Chiquita Brands was an official sponsor of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

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Chiquita Brands began illegally seizing and destroying Fyffes' shipments, as well as bribing judges to validate detention orders on Fyffes' ships.

Fyffes manager Ernst Otto Stalinski alleged that Chiquita Brands used a falsified arrest warrant in a kidnapping attempt, and he filed suit several times.

In 1994, some Chiquita Brands farms were certified by the Rainforest Alliance's Better Banana Project as being environmentally friendly.

In November 2001, Chiquita Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure the company.

Also in 2002, Chiquita Brands joined the Ethical Trading Initiative and was named as a top "green stock" by The Progressive Investor.

In 2003, Chiquita Brands acquired the German produce distribution company, Atlanta AG.

Chiquita Brands said it was pressing on with its merger with Fyffes.

However, shortly after Chiquita Brands shareholders rejected the Fyffes merger the Cutrale-Safra offer of $14.

Chiquita Brands sells a variety of fresh produce, including bananas, ready-made salads, and health foods.

On 29 November 2011, the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee approved $22 million in incentives for Chiquita Brands to move its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Miss Chiquita Brands started as an animated banana with a woman's dress and legs.

Vocalist Patti Clayton was the original 1944 voice of Miss Chiquita Brands, followed by Elsa Miranda, June Valli and Monica Lewis.

In 1976, the European Commission held that United Chiquita Brands had been abusing a dominant market position, contrary to Article 86 of the EEC Treaty; in particular, by imposing unfair conditions on its customers, by refusing to supply certain customers, and by charging dissimilar prices for equivalent transactions.

On 3 May 1998, The Cincinnati Enquirer published an eighteen-page section, "Chiquita Brands Secrets Revealed" by investigative reporters Michael Gallagher and Cameron McWhirter.

Chiquita Brands denied all the allegations, and sued after it was revealed that Gallagher had repeatedly hacked into Chiquita Brands's voicemail system.

Chiquita Brands had continued hacking into the system despite being explicitly directed not to do so by editors and lawyers.

Indeed, the Chiquita Brands's United States counsel had warned them against using this extortion defense in cases where the company benefitted from these payments, and the company's lawyer reportedly told them to stop making the payments.

On 14 March 2007, Chiquita Brands was fined $25 million as part of a settlement with the United States Justice Department for having ties to Colombian paramilitary groups.

Chiquita Brands sued to prevent the United States government from releasing files about their illegal payments to Colombian left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups.

Chiquita Brands stated in his decision that “'profits took priority over basic human welfare' in the banana company executives' decision to finance the illegal death squads, despite knowing that this would advance the paramilitaries' murderous campaign.

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Finally, Peuples Solidaires claimed that Chiquita Brands ignored some union complaints for more than a year.

Chiquita Brands partnered with the Rainforest Alliance, an environmental group dedicated to preserving the rainforest, and made major reforms in the way they plant and protect their bananas.

In 2000, Chiquita Brands adopted a new code of conduct that included Social Accountability International's SA8000 labor standard.

Chiquita Brands has more recently been involved in the hazardous use of pesticides: The Danish media and research centre Danwatch, who specialise in investigative journalism, published a report on pesticide use on banana plantations in Ecuador, some of which supply Chiquita Brands.