Chiquita Brands International, one of the world's biggest banana companies, has implemented a new, dedicated and integrated container service it says will set an even higher standard to safeguard the quality of its fruit across the world.  

The new logistic service will now operate five full-container vessels to transport bananas from Central America to Europe’s Vlissingen port in The Netherlands.

The company said the modern hub will allow Chiquita to serve all Northern European destinations with the best transit time in the industry.

The investment in this new service will result in fresher bananas and a longer shelf life, thanks to new ultra-efficient containers that positively impact fruit quality by using software that automatically regulates the containers’ compressor thereby controlling the atmosphere, it said.

Tthe new service would result in a positive environmental impact as each new container is 50% more energy efficient than older models.

In addition, Chiquita said the new vessels have also helped to reduce the handling of fruit at ports and increased stowage capacity by 12.5%, thanks to a more efficient storage from origin to destination, guaranteeing the cold chain.

These improvements will mean more bananas can be moved per trip, using less energy whilst still ensuring the fruit quality is prioritized.

“Looking back over these past years work with the container fleet upgrade, we can proudly say we have achieved something remarkable” said Carlos Lopez Flores, global president of Chiquita.

"We’ve saved an unprecedented amount of energy – the equivalent of the CO₂ emitted by 3,000 cars per year.”