...Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Columbia Blood Bananas: Chiquita In Columbia is a difficult case that touches on fundamental questions of ethics and morality while operating a business abroad. It is a case that depicts the challenges faced by a company trying to maintain production and protect its employees while navigating between two very different cultures in a hostile situation. the lines of the ethics and morality are not as straight forward as they seem on the surface, and Chiquita’s management struggles to make decisions that will transcend both cultures’ view of right versus wrong. was one of the largest and growing fruit company in America who faced a dramatic problem in the 90’s with the AUC, a Colombian paramilitary organization that promoted violence act and considered to be terrorist, what happened was they inquired the fruit company to pay them specific amount of money monthly that was required for their security services as they claimed! The situation was straightforward, either Chiquita pays for the terrorist Chiquita Brands International and its leaders learned a very hard lesson about paying off terrorist groups to protect their employees. Over the past 25 years, no place has been more perilous for companies than Colombia, a country that is finally beginning to emerge from the effects of civil war and narco-terrorism. In 2004, Chiquita voluntarily revealed to the U.S. Justice Department that one of its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments...
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...Blood Bananas Case Introduction Chiquita Brands International is a successful company with a long history that began in 1899 as the United Fruit Company. The company has endured over time through changes in leadership, acquisitions, and process changes to become one of “the big three” banana distributors in the world. While they have become successful; their past has been tarnished by paying bribes to government officials, supporting U.S. coups against smaller nations and exploiting local workers. The company that originally revolutionized the banana trade by using refrigerated ships was now faced with the decision of whether to continue to pay a terrorist organization in Colombia, South America to ensure the safety of their employees, stop payment and face the consequences or sell the business and exit the country. Background The issue at hand is partly the result of the industry itself. Bananas grow best in tropical regions, such as the Caribbean, Central America, Asia and Africa. They are critical cash crop for many of the lesser-developed countries. The banana producing country in question here is Colombia, South America which has a population of over 45M people, the second largest in South America. It has the 4th largest economy in Latin America although the income inequality is prevalent due to very uneven wealth distribution. It is in this environment that paramilitary organizations such as the AUC thrive. According to Fernando Aguirre, a former Chiquita...
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...TB0245 Andreas Schotter Mary Teagarden Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia No one laughs at the banana in its areas of origin. It is too serious a business, on which jobs and lives depend. Peter Chapman, Author of Jungle Capitalists. For Chiquita Brands International, a pioneer in the globalization of the banana industry, bananas are not only serious business, they represent an array of economic, social, environmental, political, and legal hassles. Since its founding more than a hundred years ago as United Fruit Company, Chiquita has been involved in paying bribes to Latin American government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, encouraging or supporting U.S. coups against smaller nations, putting in place dictatorships in Central America’s “banana republics,” exploiting local workers, creating an abusive monopoly, and now doing business with terrorists.1 For American multinationals, the rewards of doing business abroad are enormous, but so are the risks. Over the past decades, no place has been more hazardous than Colombia, a country that is just emerging from a deadly civil war and the effects of wide-ranging narco-terrorism. Chiquita found out the hard way. It made tens of millions in profit growing bananas in Colombia, only to emerge with its reputation splattered in blood.2 In 2004, Chiquita voluntarily admitted criminal responsibility to the U.S. Justice Department that one of its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments from 1997...
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...Blood Bananas – Chiquita in Colombia Introduction: Banana is a serious and a complicated business when it comes to producing and delivering it to the consumers all around the world. As most of the banana production takes a place in the tropics, the largest consumers are the U.S., the European Union and Japan. Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte who are also known as “the big three” control 60 percent of the global banana trade. Dole was founded in Hawai in 1851 and had reported revenues of US $6.9 billion in 2007, being the largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables. Del Monte is one of the largest and well known producers, distributors and marketers of premium quality, branded food and pert products for U.S. generating US $3.4 billion in net sales in 2007. Chiquita which has been the largest employer in Latin America for many years, was founded 1899 and is known for revolutionizing the banana trade by using refrigerated ships for the first time. In 2007, Chiquita was the leading distributor of bananas In the United States with annual revenues of US $4.7 billion. Chiquita and terrorist ties Chiquita has been known as a rapacious multinational corporation for a long time. Company has been blamed for having farmers work for long hours in dangerous conditions, contaminating water with agrochemicals and harming tropical forests for expansion. Its operations in Colombia have been the most controversial topic for a long time due to the instability...
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...out of the United Fruit Company, notorious in Latin America as a U.S. Army backed opponent to agrarian reform and agricultural workers' unions. Though later known as United Brands in 1970, and then Chiquita in 1989, business in Latin America has continued in similar veins. In 1928, several thousand workers of Colombia's banana plantations began a strike demanding written contracts, eight-hour days, six-day weeks and the elimination of food coupons. Military forces murdered thousands of United Fruit Company Workers who were protesting. [1] Throughout the 20th century, the company was infamous for using a combination of its financial clout, congressional influence and violent refusal to negotiate with striking workers to establish and maintain a colony of "banana republics" in Latin America. Often the CIA and the US Marines provided the company's muscle, as in the case of the overthrow of the populist Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz in 1953. [2] In 1975, a federal grand jury accused United Brands of bribing Honduran President Osvaldo Lopez Arellano with $1.25 million, with the promise of another $1.25 million later, in exchange for reducing taxes on banana exports. Lopez Arellano was removed from power, but later investigations revealed repeated bribes carried out by the company. [3] Subpoenas were also issued regarding possible payoffs in Italy, West Germany, Panama and Costa Rica. [4] In May of 1998, The Cincinnati Enquirer published a series of articles that exposed...
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...Summer 2013 Summer 2013 Case Report: Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia BUSA 4980 Chiquita Brands international was founded in 1899 after the merger of United Fruit Company and the Boston Fruit Company. As bananas be came more of a staple in every home so do Chiquita Bananas. Bananas are know to mainly grown in tropical places like Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Chiquita decided to have operations out of Colombia. During this time there was turmoil in Colombia and different terror groups form “against the government” & other wealthy people in the country. Some of these groups settled in the areas where Chiquita had facilities. Chiquita run into problems with theses groups around 1997, mainly with FARC (Revolution Armed Forced of Columbia) and AUC. They began to kidnap and kill employees of this company. The terrorist groups began asking for money in turn they would stop harming their employees. For Chiquita this decision to pay the AUC seem to be an easy one because or the lack for government and the lack of laws in place. There are many key issues that lead Chiquita Banana’s decision to pay the terrorist groups the FARC & the AUC. One key issues the increasing demand for bananas in new countries like Russia, China and other countries in the Middle East. Chiquita felt as if it had pressure to obtain and grow in these markets. Along with those new markets, Chiquita had their current demand in established markets like the United States and...
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...Reference: Bananas: Health Benefits, Risks & Nutrition Facts By Jessie Szalay, Live Science Contributor | April 22, 2014 02:30am ET 108 32 2061 Submit 13 Reddit | Credit: Maks Narodenko | ShutterstockView full size image | Bananas are among the most widely consumed fruits on the planet. In the United States, people eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. The curvy yellow fruits are packed with nutrients and are especially high in potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamins C and B6. Eating bananas can help with battling depression, keeping bowel movements regular, improving heartburn, and lowering the risks of kidney cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, blindness and other conditions. Here are the nutrition facts for bananas, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food labeling through the National Labeling and Education Act: Nutrition FactsServing size: 1 medium banana (4.5 oz / 126 g)Calories 110 Calories from Fat 0*Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. | Amt per Serving | %DV* | | Amt per Serving | %DV* | | | Total Fat 0g | 0% | | Total Carbohydrate 30g | 10% | | | Cholesterol 0mg | 0% | | Dietary Fiber 3g | 12% | | | Sodium 0mg | 0% | | Sugars 19g | | | | Potassium 450mg | 13% | | Protein 1g | | | | Vitamin A | 2% | | Calcium | 0% | | | Vitamin C | 15% | | Iron | 2% | | Health benefits Bananas are good for your heart. They...
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...Blood Banana Running a business is about more than just making money. It requires adequate consideration to a number of issues, of which ethics is most certainly one. As a business grows and becomes more significant, it impacts the lives of people in so many ways. But without a clear understanding of business ethics, a company can lose its business by ruining its reputation and alienating employees, suppliers and the local community around it. With recent expansions in global businesses and the decrease of trade barriers worldwide, the importance of ethics in business has been further underlined. Chiquita Brands International Inc., is a leading marketer and distributor of high quality fresh produce. The company is one of the largest banana producers in the world. Like any company operating across borders, Chiquita was faced with a terrible dilemma. Operating in a country without political stability and high crime, the company was threatened to pay security charges to terrorists in order to continue their business smoothly. The situation that faced Chiquita is very critical as it involved the lives of thousands of innocent people and employees, and on the other hand billions of dollars worth of business. The decision is not easy. Chiquita can pay off these terrorists to keep the business running and ensure the safety of its employees, but what about the lives of the other innocent people being harmed by those criminals? Does Chiquita have the conscience to bare such a...
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...|Wednesday: 6:00PM- 9:00PM | | |08/21/2013-12/11/2013 | | |Semester: Fall 2013 | | |Class Location: Washington DC Center | | | | Case Study #3: Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Columbia Andreas Schotter http://hbr.org/product/blood-bananas-chiquita-in-colombia/an/TB0245-PDF-ENG Due Date: Wednesday, November 6th, 2013, 11.59pm. Submit your paper via Blackboard. Task for Students Use just the information contained in the case study and what you have learned in class to complete this assignment. 1. Make a list of the top five (5) opportunities and five (5) threats facing the Chiquita Brands International company. 2. Use the information in...
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... iii. Positioning * Marketing mix i. Product ii. Price iii. Place iv. Promotion * Production development * Market test * Commercialization ACKNOWLEDGEMENT All the Acclimations and Appreciation are for Almighty ALLAH, the Compassionate; the Benevolent. That knows the mysteries & secrets of universe. We would like to show the special gratitude to SIR IHSAN-U-REHMAN who provided with us knowledge Vision about the management. At the end, we would like to thank all who directly or indirectly help us in making the report DEDICATION: First of all we would like to thanks ALLAH ALMIGHTY for giving us opportunity to study in such a good institution. We feel pleasure to dedicate this project on BANANA CRISPS to our beloved PARENTS, then our subject instructor SIR HAFIZ IHSAN –UR-REHMAN and at the last to our university that is PUGC. Mission statement “Supporting our environment & community while maintaining a healthy responsibility to our customers through the food we serve Vision statement “Our vision is to provide healthy, crunchy, handsome & wholesome meals in form of snacks .we believe in being ethical in our all claims and dealings with the customers, dealers & organizations Industry Analysis: Industry analysis includes: * ‘’all the food manufacturers in Pakistan’’ * Our competitive brands and snacks * Future prospects of industry in Pakistan...
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...with high nutritional value. And the cost of the production should not be very expensive. In connection with this, the researchers will develop a new product from Saba peel and Banana blossom. The researchers will utilize the Saba peel and Banana blossom as the main ingredients in making the patty with the addition of TVP as an additional protein source. Banana peels may be used to formulate preparations with pharmacologic/medicinal, nutritive and energy values. Recycling of fruit peel wastes will not only help lessen solid waste problems but will also help discover important substances that may prove to have vital use. Peel wastes of Saba can then be put to good use before its final disposal. Banana blossom is also considered an edible part of the banana. It is an excellent source of crude fibre in human diet and serves as an antioxidant when ingested. Also, Banana blossom can reduce the body sugar levels of diabetic patients and increase the haemoglobin content of the blood. With the use of Saba peel and Banana blossom as an alternative source of nutrients from meat or meat itself in making shanghai rolls would be a good deal. The researchers named the new product “Boregi”. 1. Significance of the Study It is already possible to produce burger patties from the Saba peel or either Banana blossom alone, but the development of the shanghai rolls made from Saba peel...
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...the Study Bananas are among the most widely consumed fruits on the planet and, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans' favorite fresh fruit. The curvy yellow fruits are high in "potassium and pectin, a form of fiber," said Laura Flores, a San Diego-based nutritionist. They can also be a good way to get magnesium and vitamins C and B6. "Bananas are high in antioxidants, which can provide protection from free radicals, which we come into contact with every day, from the sunlight to the lotion you put on your skin," Flores added. Hawaii is the only place in the U.S. where bananas are grown commercially, although at one time they were also grown in southern California and Florida. The overwhelming majority of the bananas Americans eat come from countries in Latin America and South America, including Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, and Guatemala. Bananas were first found in New Guinea and spread throughout the Philippines nearly 4,000 years ago, and from their diversified around the world. They became a popular item in India, Indonesia, Australia, and Malaysia and were even used to make clothes and other fabrics in Japan. It wasn’t until they hit colonial plantations in America that they were used for inter cropping plants such as coffee, cacao, and pepper plantations. Their leaves provided the perfect shade for the more valuable plants, which was only the beginning of their endless environmental uses and health benefits. Bananas are rich in...
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...Joshua Cortez Blood Bananas Chiquita is a brand that has been through major turmoil, scandal and success. Through it all they have had to deal with significant labor relation issues that go far beyond your typical corporate labor relations issues. From being accused of supporting terrorism and drug trafficking to contributing to the economic collapse of Columbia, Chiquita has had to endure many self-inflicted wounds. Chiquita is one biggest and most powerful food marketing and distributing companies in the world, and one of the world's largest banana producers. The company shows annual revenues of approximately $4.5 billion and about 25,000 employees operating in more than 70 countries. The banana market, worth about $5 billion a year in 2001, is the most important global fruit export. The majority of the 14 million tons of bananas exported every year come from Latin America. Between 1997 and 2004 Chiquita was faced with a terrible situation in Columbia. The United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia (AUC) was known to terrorize the locals. Chiquita had a large plant in Columbia and was a premier employer of the Columbian people. The AUC knew that if they could intimidate Chiquita it would be a profitable endeavor. The AUC used kidnapping, torture, disappearance, rape, murder, beatings, extortion and drug trafficking as was of intimidating employees. Chiquita the brand was very invested in Columbia and because of the profits and climate they tried to turn a blind eye to employee...
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... J. 1987. Banana. p. 29–46. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL. Banana Musa x paridasiaca Description Origin and Distribution Varieties Climate Soil Propagation Culture Harvesting Yield Handling and Packing Controlled Ripening and Storage Pests Diseases Food Uses Animal Feed Other Uses Folklore The word "banana" is a general term embracing a number of species or hybrids in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae. Some species such as M. Basjoo Sieb. & Zucc. of Japan and M. ornata Roxb., native from Pakistan to Burma, are grown only as ornamental plants or for fiber. M. textilis Nee of the Philippines is grown only for its fiber, prized for strong ropes and also for tissue-thin tea bags. The so-called Abyssinian banana, Ensete ventricosum Cheesman, formerly E. edule Horan, Musa ensete Gmel., is cultivated in Ethiopia for fiber and for the staple foods derived from the young shoot, the base of the stem, and the corm. Most edible-fruited bananas, usually seedless, belong to the species M. acuminata Colla (M. cavendishii Lamb. ex Paxt., M. chinensis Sweet, M. nana Auth. NOT Lour., M. zebrina Van Houtee ex Planch.), or to the hybrid M. X paradisiaca L. (M. X sapientum L.; M. acumianta X M. balbisiana Colla). M. balbisiana Colla of southern Asia and the East Indies, bears a seedy fruit but the plant is valued for its disease-resistance and therefore plays an important role as a ";parent"; in the breeding of edible bananas. M. fehi...
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...Mr. X Head of the SME division, Brac Bank Limited Dhaka, Bangladesh Dear Mr. X: In order to seek finance for my business, I am writing to you. For my new business which involves producing and selling banana-fiber related products, I need you to join hands with me with some cash from your bank. I have the confidence to state that my newly-established company has the potential to maintain your interest. BestFiber Bangladesh, a company intending to become born- global right from the start, is designed to take advantage of the market opportunities present throughout the world with high quality and diversified product portfolio produced from fiber extracted from banana stem. This business being relatively new has the potential to become a high- growth yielding one as there is no such domineering firms with similar businesses as is found in other industries. I strongly believe that, of course I have the necessary backing tools here, Bestfiber with its professional approach to branding and marketing and high- quality machines for production can leverage the opportunities present for this industry. Though starting with small- scale manufacturing, the company has the plan to grow big and enter into associated businesses with strength gained from the earlier operation. We currently require8,500,000taka that will be used to finance the purchasing of infrastructure like land at Bonpara,Natore, office space at Dhaka, machineries import, worker recruitment and training and other...
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