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| industry = [[Agriculture]]
| products = [[Produce]] (primarily [[banana]]s)
| owner = [[Cutrale]] (50%)<br />[[Safra Group|Safra]] (50%)
| num_employees = ~20,000
| slogan =
| homepage = [http://www.
| predecessor = [[United Fruit Company|United Brands]]
| foundation = <!--{{start date|df=yes|1899|03|30}} (as the United Fruit Company)<br />-->August 1984 (as Chiquita Brands International)
| location = [[Étoy, Switzerland]]
}}
[[File:Carlos López Flores Chiquita.jpg|thumb|Carlos López Flores, president of Chiquita]]
'''Chiquita Brands International [[Société à responsabilité limitée|S.à.r.l.]]''' ({{IPAc-en|tʃ|ɪ|ˈ|k|iː|t|ə}}), formerly known as '''[[United Fruit Company|United Fruit Co.]]''', is a
Chiquita is the successor to the [[United Fruit Company]]. It was formerly controlled by American businessman [[Carl Lindner Jr.]], whose majority ownership of the company ended when Chiquita Brands International exited a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 19 March 2002. In 2003, the company acquired the German produce distribution company, [[Atlanta AG]]. Fresh Express salads was purchased from [[Performance Food Group]] in 2005. Chiquita's former headquarters were located in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].<ref name=Charlotte>{{cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/30/2813157/charlotte-chamber-holding-business.html |title=Chiquita relocating headquarters to Charlotte |last=Portillo |first=Ely |work=[[The Charlotte Observer]] |date=2011-11-30 |access-date=30 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330225114/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/30/2813157/charlotte-chamber-holding-business.html |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref>
Chiquita was acquired by Brazilian companies [[Cutrale]] and [[Safra Group|Safra]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chiquita - Investor Relations - Financial Release |url=http://investors.chiquita.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=119836&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1981683 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141027155443/http://investors.chiquita.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=119836&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1981683 |archive-date=2014-10-27 |access-date=2016-07-28 |website=Investors.chiquita.com}}</ref>
==History==
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[[United Fruit Company]] was founded in 1899, when the Boston Fruit Company and various fruit exporting concerns controlled by Keith merged.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eagen |first=Rachel |title=The Biography of Bananas |publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7787-2483-4 |location=New York, NY |pages=17 |language=en}}</ref> In 1903, United Fruit Company was listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] and became the first company to use refrigeration during open sea transport. In the same year, a US-funded railroad was built in [[Guatemala]] to benefit the company.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Leonard |first1=Thomas |title=Encyclopedia of U.S. - Latin American Relations |last2=Buchenau |first2=Jurgen |last3=Longley |first3=Kyle |last4=Mount |first4=Graeme |publisher=CQ Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-60871-792-7 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |pages=341 |language=en}}</ref> During this period, United Fruit Company was known for its aggressive and exploitative practices in its operations in Central America.<ref name=":0" />
In 1928, workers went on strike in protest against poor pay and working conditions in the company plantations in [[Ciénaga, Magdalena|Ciénaga]] ([[Colombia]]). The company lobbied the U.S. government
United Fruit used emotionally charged advertising campaigns to gain support, like "The Great White Fleet," a cruise liner that took American tourists to nations in Central and South America that United Fruit had invested in. Positive corporate image was fostered by commercials, which presented these destinations as exotic, fun excursions. Nevertheless, well planned tourist trips concealed the brutal and corrupt reality that existed on United Fruit's plantations in Latin America. By 1930, the company's fleet had grown to 95 ships.<ref name=history />
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In November 2001, Chiquita filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure the company.<ref name="history" /> It emerged from the bankruptcy on 19 March 2002, ending Cincinnati businessman [[Carl Lindner Jr.|Carl H. Lindner Jr.]]'s control of the company. Also in 2002, Chiquita joined the Ethical Trading Initiative and was named as a top "green stock" by ''The Progressive Investor''.<ref name="history" />
In 2003, Chiquita acquired the German produce distribution company, [[Atlanta AG]]. It also sold its processed foods division to [[Seneca Foods]] that year. In 2004, 100% of Chiquita farms were certified compliant with the SA8000 labor standard and the company earned the "Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award" from a Honduran charity.<ref name="history" /> Fresh Express salads was purchased from [[Performance Food Group]] in 2005.<ref name="history" />
===Acquisition===
In March 2014, Chiquita Brands International and [[Fyffes]] announced that their boards of directors had unanimously approved a merger agreement. In the stock-for-stock transaction, former Chiquita shareholders
A $611 million takeover offer by Cutrale of Brazil and Safra group in August 2014, was rejected outright by Chiquita, with the company refusing to meet with the bidders to discuss the offer. Chiquita said it was pressing on with its merger with Fyffes.<ref name="ChiquitaBid">{{cite news |date=16 August 2014 |title=Brazilian takeover offer rejected by US banana giant Chiquita |url=http://www.charlottestar.com/index.php/sid/224813151 |access-date=17 August 2014 |work=Charlotte Star}}</ref> However, shortly after Chiquita shareholders rejected the Fyffes merger the Cutrale-Safra offer of $14.50 per share was accepted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/10/27/chiquita-brazil-deal/17997003/|title=Chiquita OKs $681M sale to Brazil bidders|date=2014-10-27|website=Usatoday.com|access-date=2016-07-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bidnessetc.com/28025-chiquita-shareholders-reject-fyffes-merger/|title=Chiquita Brands International Inc (NYSE:CQB) Shareholders Reject Fyffes Merger|author=Ghous Zaman|date=2014-10-27|website=Bidnessetc.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023747/http://www.bidnessetc.com/28025-chiquita-shareholders-reject-fyffes-merger/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=2016-07-28}}</ref> Yet the North Carolina Economic Development board asserted that if the headquarters was moved away, the company would be due to return N.C. and local incentive money. Former Charlotte City Council member John Lassiter, who heads the board, said the new owners would inherit Chiquita's responsibilities under a 2011 deal that brought the company to the city. The agreement
==Operations==
[[File:Chiquita Office Etoy Switzerland.jpg|thumb|Chiquita Headquarters Europe in [[Étoy
Chiquita Brands International operates in 70 countries and employs approximately 20,000 people as of 2018. The company sells a variety of fresh produce, including bananas, ready-made salads, and health foods.<ref name="about">{{cite web|title=Meet Chiquita|publisher=Chiquita Brands International|url=http://www.chiquita.com/Our-Company/Meet-Chiquita.aspx|access-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313152900/http://www.chiquita.com/Our-Company/Meet-Chiquita.aspx|archive-date=13 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The company's Fresh Express brand has approximately $1 billion of annual sales and a 40% market share in the United States.<ref name="history" />
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{{See also|Colombian armed conflict|Doe v. Chiquita Brands International}}[[File:Chiquita_Papers_Document.jpg|thumb|right|One of several documents obtained by the National Security Archive related to Chiquita's payments to terrorist groups in Colombia]]
In the 1990s and early 2000s, faced with an unstable political situation in Colombia, Chiquita and several other corporations including the [[Dole Food Company]], [[Fresh Del Monte Produce]] and [[Hyundai Motor Corporation]] made payments to paramilitary organizations in the country, most notably the [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC).<ref name="pulitzercenter">{{cite web|url=https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/chiquita-made-killing-colombias-civil-war|title=Chiquita Made a Killing From Colombia's Civil War|first=Matt|last=Kennard|website=[[Pulitzer Center]]|date=27 January 2017|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> Chiquita paid the AUC $1.7 million in a ten-year period. Although official accounts from the company state they only made these payments as the AUC was extorting payments from Chiquita in order to ensure their security,<ref name="latimes.com">|{{cite web|url=https://
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 [[paramilitarism in Colombia|Colombian paramilitary]] groups. According to court documents, between 1997 and 2004, officers of a Chiquita subsidiary paid approximately $1.7 million to the right-wing [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC), in exchange for local employee protection in Colombia's volatile banana harvesting zone. Similar payments were also made to the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC), as well as the [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|National Liberation Army]] (ELN) from 1989 to 1997, both left-wing organizations.<ref name="Evans">{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Michael |date=2007-04-04 |title='Para-politics' Goes Bananas |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/para-politics-goes-bananas/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref><ref name="Apuzzo">Matt Apuzzo, [[Associated Press]] writer, [http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/15200739657.htm Chiquita to Pay $25M Fine in Terror Case] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131052521/http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/15200739657.htm|date=31 January 2011}}, ''[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]'', 15 March 2007</ref> All three of these groups are on the U.S. State Department's list of [[Foreign Terrorist Organizations]]. Chiquita sued to prevent the United States government from releasing files about their illegal payments to Colombian left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups.<ref name="nsa-2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20130408/|title=Chiquita Sues to Block Release of Files on Colombia Terrorist Payments|date=8 April 2013|publisher=[[National Security Archive]]|access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref>▼
▲In the 1990s and early 2000s, faced with an unstable political situation in Colombia, Chiquita and several other corporations including the [[Dole Food Company]], [[Fresh Del Monte Produce]] and [[Hyundai Motor Corporation]] made payments to paramilitary organizations in the country, most notably the [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC).<ref name="pulitzercenter">{{cite web|url=https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/chiquita-made-killing-colombias-civil-war|title=Chiquita Made a Killing From Colombia's Civil War|first=Matt|last=Kennard|website=[[Pulitzer Center]]|date=27 January 2017|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> Chiquita paid the AUC $1.7 million in a ten-year period. Although official accounts from the company state they only made these payments as the AUC was extorting payments from Chiquita in order to ensure their security,<ref name="latimes.com">|{{cite web|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/15/world/fg-chiquita15|title=Chiquita to pay fine for deals with militants|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=15 March 2007|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> these claims are disputed as Chiquita also allowed AUC to use their loading facilities to transport [[AK-47]]s.<ref name="newrepublic">{{cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/121506/supreme-court-should-take-chiquitas-terrorism-sponsorship-case|title=The Supreme Court Needs to Decide: Can Victims Sue Chiquita For Sponsoring Terrorism?|first=Steven|last=Cohen|magazine=[[The New Republic]]|date=10 April 2015|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> Indeed, the Chiquita's United States counsel had warned them against using this extortion defense in cases where the company benefitted from these payments,<ref name="gwu">{{cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB340/index.htm|date=7 April 2011|access-date=21 May 2020|title=The Chiquita Papers|first=Michael|last=Evans}}</ref> and the company's lawyer reportedly told them to stop making the payments.<ref name="newrepublic"/> Chiquita's dealings with AUC continued even after it was officially designated as a terrorist organization in the United States. Although the company eventually voluntarily disclosed their involvement with AUC to the [[United States Department of Justice]],<ref name="cnnmoney">{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2007/03/14/news/companies/chiquita/index.htm|title=Chiquita to plead guilty to ties with terrorists|date=14 March 2007|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> they still sent over $300,000 to the organization even after the Justice Department instructed them to halt all payments.<ref name="newrepublic"/>
On 7 December 2007, the 29th Specialized District Attorney's Office in Medellín, Colombia subpoenaed the Chiquita board to answer questions "concerning charges for conspiracy to commit an aggravated crime and financing illegal armed groups". Nine board members named in the subpoena allegedly personally knew of the illegal operations.<ref>[http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1340 Colectivodeabogados.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613230005/http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1340 |date=13 June 2008 }}, Extraditions Cut Short ''Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective'', 25 May 2008</ref> One executive for the company penned a note which proclaimed that the payments were the "cost of doing business in Colombia" and also noted the "need to keep this very confidential – people can get killed."<ref>Curt Anderson (31 May 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130926164514/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43221200/ns/world_news-americas/t/bananas-colombian-death-squads-billion-dollar-lawsuit
▲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 [[paramilitarism in Colombia|Colombian paramilitary]] groups. According to court documents, between 1997 and 2004, officers of a Chiquita subsidiary paid approximately $1.7 million to the right-wing [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC), in exchange for local employee protection in Colombia's volatile banana harvesting zone. Similar payments were also made to the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC), as well as the [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|National Liberation Army]] (ELN) from 1989 to 1997, both left-wing organizations.<ref name="Evans">{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Michael |date=2007-04-04 |title='Para-politics' Goes Bananas |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/para-politics-goes-bananas/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref><ref name="Apuzzo">Matt Apuzzo, [[Associated Press]] writer, [http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/15200739657.htm Chiquita to Pay $25M Fine in Terror Case] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131052521/http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/15200739657.htm|date=31 January 2011}}, ''[[ABC News]]'', 15 March 2007</ref> All three of these groups are on the U.S. State Department's list of [[Foreign Terrorist Organizations]]. Chiquita sued to prevent the United States government from releasing files about their illegal payments to Colombian left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups.<ref name="nsa-2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20130408/|title=Chiquita Sues to Block Release of Files on Colombia Terrorist Payments|date=8 April 2013|publisher=[[National Security Archive]]|access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref>
▲On 7 December 2007, the 29th Specialized District Attorney's Office in Medellín, Colombia subpoenaed the Chiquita board to answer questions "concerning charges for conspiracy to commit an aggravated crime and financing illegal armed groups". Nine board members named in the subpoena allegedly personally knew of the illegal operations.<ref>[http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1340 Colectivodeabogados.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613230005/http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1340 |date=13 June 2008 }}, Extraditions Cut Short ''Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective'', 25 May 2008</ref> One executive for the company penned a note which proclaimed that the payments were the "cost of doing business in Colombia" and also noted the "need to keep this very confidential – people can get killed."<ref>Curt Anderson (31 May 2011). [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/43221200/ns/world_news-americas/t/bananas-colombian-death-squads-billion-dollar-lawsuit/ Bananas, Colombian death squads and a billion dollar lawsuit]. ''[[The Associated Press]].'' Retrieved 20 July 2014.</ref>
In 2013 and 2014, Chiquita spent $780,000 lobbying against the [[Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act]], hiring lobbyists from [[Covington and Burling]], a high-powered [[white shoe law firm]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/03/exclusive-chiquita-is-blocking-a-9-11-victims-bill.html|title=Chiquita Is Blocking a 9/11 Victims' Bill|last1=Mak|first1=Tim|date=3 June 2014|website=[[The Daily Beast]]|access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref>
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In 2018, Colombia's Office of the Attorney General filed charges against 13 Chiquita Brands International executives and administrators after tracing payments made by a local Chiquita affiliate to the paramilitary group [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia|AUC]], some of which was used to buy machine guns.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chiquita-brands-faces-death-squad-charges-colombia-57539510|title=Chiquita Brands faces new death squad charges in Colombia|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=31 August 2018|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=2 September 2018}}</ref>
In June 2024, a federal jury in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida]] found Chiquita liable for the killing of eight Colombians by the right wing paramilitary group [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]].<ref name="kill">{{Cite news |last=Valencia |first=Jorge |date=2024-06-11 |title=Chiquita Held Liable for Deaths During Colombian Civil War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/world/americas/chiquita-banana-lawsuit-colombia.html |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The jury verdict also ordered the company to pay $38.3 million to family members of the victims. The case is ''In Re: Chiquita Brands International, Inc., Alien Tort Statute and Shareholders Derivative Litigation'' (0:08-md-01916), presided by Judge [[Kenneth Marra]].<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4232180/in-re-chiquita-brands-international-inc-alien-tort-statute-and/?page=22 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref><ref>https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.310368/gov.uscourts.flsd.310368.3811.0.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref>
===Workers' rights===
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== In popular culture ==
* [[Gabriel García Márquez]] alludes to the
==See also==
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[[Category:United Fruit Company]]
[[Category:Fruit production]]
[[Category:Banana production in the United States]]
[[Category:2014 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Agriculture companies established in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Environmental racism]]
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