In a letter to US customers, Brian Kocher, president of Chiquita Brands North America has invoked force majeure in supply contracts and added $2 to the price of a box of fruit in the wake of sourcing problems in Ecuador, Central America and the Dominican Republic.

Kocher said in the letter he would reassess the new price on a monthly basis and adjust it if warranted. “In view of these extraordinary circumstances, this temporary price increase is necessary to assure ability to source fruit for supply,” he added.

And Ecuador-based Pacific Fruit, which supplies the Bonita brand, sent out a similar letter informing its customers of an increased sales price, last week.

A decrease in productivity in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras at the end of last year has been compounded by heavy rains in January and February this year in both Costa Rica and Ecuador. The situation in Ecuador has been so grave that the country has declared a state of emergency.

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