The multinational is testing banana packing plants as part of reactivation process in Panama
Chiquita is reported to have resumed production of small quantities of bananas in Panama to test the fruit’s performance and its packing plants as part of the reactivation process for its operations in the Central American country.
The company closed its operations last year following a strike by worker unions, racking up tens of millions of dollars of losses. After resuming production last November, the multinational told EFE that volumes are still “is very low” and are being sold on the local market.
“This phase of reactivating operations allows us to observe the performance of the packing plants that have been remodelled, as well as the fruit being harvested,” a spokesperson for the company stated, adding that it hoped to make a “swift return to exports”.
Chiquita has been gradually reactivating banana production in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro after several months of closure. Its new business model in Panama is based on sharecropping, in which five companies manage the human resources responsible for production, while the multinational corporation maintains technical assistance, supervision, and marketing.
So far, around 1,800 workers have been hired in the first phase of reactivation, in a region where more than 80 per cent of the economy depends on banana production.
Currently, the company is hiring personnel for field work such as cleaning, fertilisation, and pest control, in addition to workers without prior experience who have been trained to join the workforce.
Chiquita said it plans to reactivate approximately 5,000ha of banana plantations. Under normal conditions, the process from fruit development to harvest takes approximately 12 weeks.
As part of its commitments to the Panamanian government, Chiquita reiterated its plan to invest more than US$30mn to revitalize banana production in Bocas del Toro.
The investments include the expansion of packing facilities, the purchase of a crop-dusting aircraft valued at more than US$1.5mn, and the acquisition of agricultural inputs.
