International fruit company Espinoza has secured the right to use the established blue Chiquita brand on its produce, according to The Packer.
While Chiquita Brands International decided to offload its deciduous fruit business last year to focus on its core merchandise of bananas, pineapple and packaged salad, its widely recognised sticker will still appear on deciduous fruit and citrus.
Espinoza was formed by veterans of the US-based multinational Chiquita and it has taken on many growers the company used over the past 18 years, The Packer reported.
The company commenced operations on 1 January 2013 and will market Chiquita-branded deciduous fruit and citrus in Asia and the Americas.
Espinoza president and sourcing director, David Espinoza Sr, states that the company plans to source around 1m cartons this year from both new growers and some previously used by Chiquita, based in Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico and California.
“We expect to grow the volume to 5m packages in the next five years,” he told The Packer.
While Mexico and California will be the top fruit sources for 2013, Espinoza predicted that Chile and Peru would become more important to the company next year with the advantage of a full Southern Hemisphere season.
