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Chiquita has held its annual shareholder's meeting this week, during which it outlined some of the corporate responsibility efforts that it has made in recent times.

According to the Business Courier, the group highlighted initiatives such as the construction of some 1,850 houses for banana workers in Honduras and Guatemala, and the water recycling initiative that Chiquita said has saved 576,000 gallons of water in Latin America.

Group chief executive officerFernando Aguirre said that the water initiative had reduced usage by 96 per cent at Latin American packing stations, and if it were to be implemented at all of the group's stations it would save enough water for 15,400 families per year. 'That is a huge improvement that I haven't heard any other company claim,' the publication quoted him as saying.

Fernando Aguirre 'We are doing great work that no other player in the industry is doingin either bananas or salads,' Mr Aguirre said, adding that corporate responsibility was 'an areaof increasing importance' to consumers.

Additionally, the CEO told shareholders that Chiquita would this year look to use free cash flow to reduce debt, and would aim to increase the profitability of its Fresh Express salad operation by 3-4 per cent.

When we bought Fresh Express in 2005 we bought a company that was delivering about a 6 per cent margin, and it is our intention to get back to that level,' Mr Aguirre explained.