Chiquita

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Chiquita Brands International Sàrl is a Swiss company that grows and sells bananas and other produce under the Chiquita and Fresh Express brands. It operates in about 70 countries and has around 20,000 employees. The company is owned equally by Cutrale and the Safra Group (50% each).

A brief history
- The business traces back to the late 1800s with banana trade in the Caribbean and Central America. It became United Fruit Company in 1899.
- United Fruit helped expand railways and used refrigeration to ship fruit. It grew into a powerful, controversial company in Latin America.
- The famous Chiquita Banana jingle began in 1944, and the Chiquita name was registered as a trademark in 1947.
- Over the years, the company changed names and grew through mergers and acquisitions. It became Chiquita Brands International in 1990 and later restructured after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002.
- It bought Atlanta AG in 2003 and Fresh Express in 2005. A big merger plan with Fyffes in 2014 would have created the largest banana company, but it was later called off in favor of other moves. A separate takeover by Cutrale and Safra was completed.

Headquarters and presence
- Chiquita moved its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2011 for incentives, and by 2019 its main offices had moved to Switzerland.

Controversies
- The company has faced serious legal and ethical issues. In 2007, it paid a $25 million fine in the United States for paying protection money to Colombian paramilitary groups.
- Over the years there have been investigations, lawsuits, and verdicts related to violence and labor practices in Colombia and concerns about workers’ rights and pesticide use on some farms.

Today, Chiquita sells a range of fresh produce worldwide, with bananas as its main product and Fresh Express as a major salad brand.