Fresh produce giant Chiquita Brands International has announced that, from 1 January 2017, it will roll out its new global banana boxes, which the group says are more structurally sound and with a cooling design to improve the freshness of its bananas while allowing for the most stable transport on pallets.
The company said that the new consistent cooling design allows for bananas to ripen evenly.
According to market tests supported by the company’s ripening facility, there were more equal ripening temperatures, better colour uniformity, and better ABC scores when using the new boxes – a potential energy saving of 20 per cent.
“Our goal is to continue to provide the highest quality products to people all over the world, which is why we are committed to creating more efficient transportation methods of our fruit,” said Chiquita's vice-president of North America Chris Dugan. “We’re excited to see improvements in the quality of fruit that arrives to our partners, as well as the cost efficiencies that these new boxes will create.”
The new banana boxes will create less food waste by avoiding unnecessary damage and over-ripening of the fruit during transport, offering more fresh fruit to people across the globe, the group noted.
The boxes will also include new imagery and a cleaner look to represent Chiquita’s newest brand messaging and colours, 'giving shoppers and buyers a consistent look and feel from the brand they’ve known and loved for years'.
