Multinational produce company Chiquita has been growing rapidly so far during 2016 across key markets in Northern Europe, according to a representative.

The famous Miss Chiquita made an appearance at the London Produce Show

Speaking to www.freshfruitportal.com at the London Produce Show last week, Chiquita Northern Europe director Marc Speidel said the future was looking bright for the company.

"We are having a really good year this year," he said.

"We have been growing a lot - not only in the U.K., but all other Northern European countries as well like Germany and the Nordic countries too, so Chiquita's on a really good way."

He added that although per-capita banana consumption in some Nordic countries like Sweden and Finland was almost double that of far more populated countries like the U.K. and Germany, the larger countries were driving growth.

Chiquita was taken over early last year by Brazil-headquartered Cavendish Acquisition Corporation, an entity created by the Cutrale and Safra Groups, and the representative said the move had come with some positive developments.

"We are coming from a public-driven company and now we are an owner-driven company, so it's a very dynamic change" he said.

"Chiquita has had some issues in the past, as the banana business is not one where you can make a lot of margin, but this has been solved right now.

"So the company’s dynamic now, we are doing everything we need to in order to be more competitive in the future, and that’s what’s going on at Chiquita at this time."

Chiquita's main sourcing regions for Northern Europe are Costa Rica and Panama, with fruit also coming from Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala, according to Speidel.

The multinational also recently launched a new promotion campaign across Europe a couple of weeks ago, aimed at getting people moving.

Speidel said the campaign, which coincides with the European soccer championships, would run for three months.

He added it would be followed by another campaign in October, but the details of that one are still a secret.

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