Chiquita Brands International sells many bananas – and other products too – as evidenced by their sales data. Their approximate annual revenue is $4.5B. Trading on the NYSE, the company is part of the Farm Products industry and has their headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are a marketer and distributor of bananas, other fruits, and convenient green salads.

Their primary brands are Chiquita and Fresh Express. Chiquita acquired Fresh Express in June of 2005. Fresh Express is the packaged salad and fresh-cut fruit business that Chiquita purchased from Performance Food Group. Chiquita normally gains 59 percent of their sales from European and other international markets, and 41 percent from North America.

The company operates three business segments. The banana segment sources, transports and distributes their top-quality bananas around the world. Their salads and healthy snacks segment distributes value-added salads and fresh vegetable and fruit ingredients used in the food service industry. This segment also has a fresh-cut fruit operation and processed fruit ingredient products. Their third segment is other produce, which sources, markets, and distributes whole, fresh fruits and vegetables, other than bananas.

Chiquita’s sales mix is 43 percent for bananas, 30 percent for other produce, 25 percent for salads and healthy snacks, and 2 percent for other products. They have been marketing their brand of bananas for over 100 years. Latest figures (2006) show they sold 144 million boxes of these bananas. They have the number one market for bananas in the European Union, and the number two share in North America.

Chiquita was incorporated in 1899 in New Jersey. They have approximately 25,000 employees in over 80 countries. All of their company-owned banana farms in Latin America earned Rainforest Alliance Certification. They work with independent farmers to ensure their farms meet the standards of the Rainforest Alliance. Chiquita has those bananas and other products, and hopes to provide value from them to their customers and shareholders alike for years to come.

Let us hear your thoughts below:

Last 5 posts by QualityStocks

• November 23rd CEOcast Weekly Newsletter - November 23rd, 2009
• Longwei Petroleum Investment Holdings Ltd. (LPHI) Reports Strong Third Quarter - November 23rd, 2009
• An Opportunity to Get there First in the Media Space - November 23rd, 2009
• Akeena Solar, Inc. (AKNS) Partners with Highland Solar Achieving Canadian Market Penetration - November 23rd, 2009
• Cardio Vascular Medical Device Corp. (CVSL.OB) Applying for Patents in Europe, Canada, and Far East - November 23rd, 2009