Fresh food company Chiquita has produced its first corporate responsibility report.
The 100-page document commits the company, which produces roughly 25 per cent of Latin American bananas, to ‘engage more systematically’ with stakeholders by holding forums to discuss its social and environmental performance.
In the report, Chiquita also promises to draw up a global community involvement strategy, develop additional programmes to help the career development of women working for Chiquita, and establish target dates for certifying all its banana-growing divisions in Latin America to the SA8000 ethical trading standard by the end of 2002.
The company is reviewing shifts at packing stations in Honduras because of concerns about long working hours, the report reveals.
It also states that more than 70 per cent of Chiquita employees in Latin America are members of trade unions, an unusually high rate in the region.
A case study of Chiquita’s certification of all 127 banana farms under the Rainforest Alliance’s Better Banana Project is featured in the second issue of Ethical performance best practice, which is published this month.