Chiquita Launches New California Banana Shipping Service

BY LINDSEY WOJCIK

Published: 9:05 AM January 30, 2017

 

Chiquita North America has launched its new banana shipping service and supply chain improvements to better serve its West Coast customers. The shipping service will reduce fruit transit time by half, resulting in 4-5 days from the banana production area to the Port of Hueneme-Los Angeles. This will result in better quality and fresher bananas for Chiquita’s Western customers, say company officials. 

In addition, Chiquita has been engaged in a major refrigerated container renewal program. Since 2014, it has replaced 65 percent of its fleet to create a more sustainable shipping practices. Chiquita operates in excess of 15,000 refrigerated containers, which play a key role in the logistics of today’s banana supply chain. Improvements in the design and operating efficiency of containers has led to important environmental benefits including reduced electric power consumption, greenhouse friendly refrigerants, and use of insulation materials with reduced emissions footprint.

“All of us on the North America team are excited to deliver the freshest and highest quality Chiquita Bananas available to our customers,” says executive vice president of Chiquita Fresh North America Chris Dugan. “In addition to recent investment in our farms, this is another example of how we continue look for new ways to improve our freshness, our everyday quality and the satisfaction of our costumers."

The impact of this fleet renewal is substantial, giving Chiquita the opportunity to save up to 35 percent on energy compared to old units, and electricity savings of 34 million kilowatt hours and an annual emissions reductions of 17,000 tons of CO2 per year is possible—equivalent to taking over 3,000 cars off the road every year.