Company expects full production to resume in second half of 2026, as exports via Port of Moín in Costa Rica get underway
Multinational fruit company Chiquita has resumed operations at the Port of Moín in Costa Rica, as it restarts banana export shipments from Bocas del Toro in Panama to the south.
With production there now back up and running, exports via the Port of Almirante in Panama itself are also expected to recommence later in the year.
“I’m delighted to say that our operations in Panama have restarted and we’ll be exporting the next few weeks,” Peter Stedman, director of sustainability at Chiquita Brands, told Fruitnet at Fruit Logistica 2026 in Berlin.
“That will continue and we expect to be somewhere near full production in the second half of the year.”
In a statement, Costa Rican port authority Japdeva announced Chiquita had resumed operations at its Gastón Kogan terminal and was preparing to load around 3,000 boxes of bananas onto the Seatrade vessel Italia Stream for shipment to the Dutch port of Vlissingen.
Chiquita shut down its plantations and packhouse facilities in Bocas del Toro in late May 2025 after workers joined an extended national strike over pension reform.
After months of negotiation, however, the company said it was prepared to activate a phased return to the country.
The suspension of production in Panama is believed to have cost the group around US$100mn.
