Chiquita Bananas reverses anti-oil sands stance

December 22, 2011

Edmonton: In a letter to Alberta Enterprise Group President Tim Shipton (click here to read the letter), Ohio-based Chiquita Bananas has reversed its position to avoid fuel derived from the Canadian oil sands.

The change comes after the multinational corporation was hit with a wave of negative publicity and a consumer boycott initiated by AEG. Chiquita executives participated in a conference call with AEG on December 20th, wherein they committed to clarifying their position in the coming days.

In the letter, Chiquita Vice President Manuel Rodriguez acknowledges the company currently sources Canadian oil “and will continue to do so.”

“Chiquita did the right thing by dropping their anti-oil sands stance,” said Shipton. “It was misguided to sign on to the Forest Ethics pledge in the first place, but we’re delighted to learn they will continue to use fuel derived from the Canadian oil sands.”

“Our message is clear,” added Shipton. “Efforts to improve environmental performance are laudable, and make good business sense. AEG members are universally committed to reducing their environmental footprint. What doesn’t make sense to unfairly single out the Canadian oil sands.”

“AEG owes a debt of gratitude to all Canadians who spoke out against Chiquita’s oil sands policy, and forced an about-face.”

AEG will continue to monitor the Forest Ethics anti-oil sands campaign and will urge similar consumer action if other Fortune 500 companies sign on to a boycott of fuel derived from the Canadian oil sands.

AEG is a non-profit business advocacy organization. AEG members employ more than 50,000 Canadians in the energy, manufacturing, construction and retail industries and generate billions of dollars in ecnomic activity each year.