Chiquita Brands International has launched several new initiatives to support the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) MyPlate programme, which encourage consumers in the US to 'make half your plate fruits and vegetables'.
As part of Chiquita's campaign, the group held 'Make half your plate fruits and vegetables' Day on 20 September as the company sponsors both consumer and employee nutrition engagement efforts, as a national strategic partner of the initiative.
'We're pleased to promote USDA's MyPlate programme to help provide consumers and employees an easy way to incorporate healthy, fresh foods into their diets,' said Fernando Aguirre, chairman and CEO of Chiquita. 'This is a great opportunity to engage our consumers and employees through fun and nutritional contests, and also provide them with the tools they need to make healthier choices.'
As part of the industry-wide effort to promote nutrition, Chiquita is participating in the Produce for Better Health Foundation's 'MyPlate Makeover Challenge', which provides consumers with healthy food ideas and a vehicle to highlight how they can increase fruit and vegetable intake, through social media and the sponsorship of a weekly 'plate'.
Chiquita is also set to launch a newly designed social media-integrated Chiquita.com website in October, which will include enhanced recipe and nutritional sections, while the group's Chiquita Bites range will feature the MyPlate icon.
