Two thousand miles from its banana plantations in Central America, Chiquita Brands International Inc. is one of Cincinnati's most prominent corporations. It is also one of its most secretive.
Controlled by financier Carl H. Lindner Jr., whose aversion to the press is legendary, Chiquita nevertheless has been thrust prominently into the public realm in recent years.
As the stories on A1 and in this section describe, Chiquita is involved in political, environmental, legal and labor controversies in many parts of the world.
A year ago, The Cincinnati Enquirer decided to look beyond the company's press releases to gain a better understanding of how the Cincinnati-based banana giant operates.
Reporters Mike Gallagher and Cameron McWhirter undertook a wide-ranging investigation into Chiquita's business practices. After conducting scores of interviews in the United States and reviewing numerous public and internal documents, Mr. Gallagher and Mr. McWhirter traveled late last summer to Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, and the Caribbean islands of St. Lucia and Dominica. They also traveled to Brussels, Antwerp, Vancouver, New York and Washington, D.C.
They spoke to a wide range of sources, including farm laborers and managers, environmentalists, government officials, financial experts, lawyers, professors and others.
They interviewed numerous Chiquita executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Extensive documentation also was provided by sources or obtained elsewhere.
Those records included more than 2,000 copies of taped voice mail messages. These were provided by a high-level source who was one of several Chiquita executives with authority over the company's voice mail system.
The source also provided copies of the same tapes to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has launched its own investigation into Chiquita.
Chiquita executives often used voice mail as internal memoranda, often "copying" other executives, sometimes as many as five or six, with the same message. Many of the messages were highly detailed.
Chiquita executives refused repeated requests for interviews. Instead, they designated lawyers from the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis to take questions and provide company answers in writing. There was none of the give-and-take of a normal interview.
Chiquita, through its lawyers, provided hundreds of pages of comments and documents, though some of it was not responsive to the actual question asked. In several cases, Chiquita chose not to provide any response at all.
We are confident that thorough reporting for more than a year has resulted in an accurate and eye-opening portrait.
Readers with information or comments may contact us by e-mail at enterprise@enquirer.com or write to me at The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45201.
About the staff
(Copyright 1998)
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