From our farm to your local market, a lot of care and research goes into bringing you the freshest and very best bananas – the only kind Chiquita puts our distinctive blue label on.
It All Starts at the Banana Farm
Bananas are native to hot, humid tropical regions like Central America and the Caribbean. Most of the bananas you buy are grown within 10 degrees on either side of the equator.
Bananas are harvested green and begin ripening as soon as the banana stem is cut from the plant. Chiquita classifies banana ripeness into seven peel color stages, ranging from dark green to yellow flecked with brown. As the banana ripens, its starch converts to sugar. The riper the banana, the creamier and sweeter it tastes.
From Ship to Market to You
Within 36 hours of harvest, Chiquita Bananas are packed in special shipping cartons and loaded onto refrigerated ships. Refrigeration “puts the bananas to sleep” and temporarily prevents them from ripening. They're transported to market in refrigerated trucks. The whole process from the farm to your grocery store takes about two weeks.
The Right Ripeness for You—Chiquita Banana Ripening Tips
Most people like their bananas at color stage 5, yellow with green tips and necks, or stage 6, all yellow except for green necks.
If the bananas you buy are too green, you can put them in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed up the ripening process.
You can slow down the banana ripening process by storing the fruit in the refrigerator. The skin may darken, but the banana will be just right for several days.
If your bananas get too ripe before you can eat them, don't throw them away. Store them peeled in the freezer in a baggie to use in baked goods, smoothies or shakes.
Chiquita sets the standard for banana cultivation, irrigation, fertilization and research.
We pioneered refrigerated ships to ensure freshness and invented special shipping cartons to protect Chiquita bananas from bruising.