Chiquita volumes down in January and February

Chiquita has said that the overall volume of bananas the company sold in its core European markets fell 7 percent in January and February. The company said that this was mainly due to its focus on premium-quality fruit. While overall volume decreased year-over-year, the company sold 5 percent more premium Chiquita- label bananas and 59 percent less lower-margin second-label fruit during the period versus the same two months in 2005.