MIAMI – Suspicions of price fixing in Europe have touched off a rash of U.S. class-action suits against the biggest names in bananas – Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte – alleging conspiracy to hike or maintain banana prices.
At least eight complaints have been lodged in U.S. District Court in Miami against Chiquita Brands International, Dole Food Co., Fresh Del Monte Produce and Grupo Noboa alleging these four companies and their associates exchanged information that helped fix the price of the most popular fruit in the world.
The eight lawsuits have been filed since late July as law firms pile on, filing similar complaints asking for class-action status.
The lawsuits, which were filed by a series of different law firms, including Hanzman & Criden of Coral Gables, Fla., and Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., allege the companies formed a cartel, exchanged information about prices and sales volumes, arranged to sell bananas at agreed-upon prices and agreed to reduce production capacity.
The lawsuits noted that the price of bananas ranged from $5.40 a box to more than $10 a box from May 2003 to September 2004.
The banana companies themselves have rejected the allegations. Both Chiquita and Dole are U.S. companies. Fresh Del Monte is registered in the Cayman Islands, with management offices in Coral Gables. The fourth company, Grupo Noboa, the largest banana producer in Ecuador, is run by the Noboa family out of Guayaquil.
“We do believe that these lawsuits are without merit,” said Mike Mitchell, spokesman for Chiquita, headquartered in Cincinnati. “We are contesting them vigorously.”
Among the produce companies and buyers that have brought the suits so far are: Harvin Foods of Pennsylvania; RBest Produce of the Bronx, N.Y.; Susan Jockers, a Florida resident; Joelle Prochera, an Arizona resident; Tim McGraw, a Kansas resident; the Syracuse Banana Co., of Syracuse, N.Y.; Brookshire Ltd. of Lufkin, Texas; Brigiotta’s Farmland Produce and Garden Center, Jamestown, N.Y.; VIP Sales, Tulsa, Okla.; and Christopher Farms, of Wimauma, Fla.
The lawsuits cite an ongoing probe in the European Union into the activities of the large banana firms that began in June.
According to a Chiquita report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the banana firm disclosed in June to European authorities that “some employees had shared pricing and volume information with competitors in Europe over many years in violation of European competition laws and company policies.”
Chiquita said it had been granted immunity from any fines by agreeing to cooperate with an antitrust investigation carried out by the European Commission.
On June 3, European antitrust officials raided the European offices of Chiquita, Fyffes, Dole, Fresh Del Monte and other rival produce companies.
“The European investigation is ongoing,” Chiquita’s Mitchell said, but added that the European probe has not touched off any regulatory investigations in the United States.
Bruce A. Jordan, vice president and general counsel to Fresh Del Monte Produce, declined to comment on the litigation.
Michael Carter, Dole vice president and general counsel, dismissed the lawsuits as actions by “the usual suspects of opportunistic lawyers” and suggested they were “triggered … by the disclosures relating to the European Commission investigation into alleged competition law violations in the European Union.”
Carter said Dole, headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., had filed financial statements with the SEC saying “it believes that it has not violated its EU competition laws.”
It was not possible Wednesday to locate a lawyer for Grupo Noboa, which markets its bananas under the name Bonita in the United States. No lawyer has yet appeared to contest the lawsuits that were filed in July and August.
Worldwide banana exports top $4 billion, making it the most popular fruit in the world, and names like Chiquita and Del Monte are among the best-known brand names in the world. The U.S. market for bananas is estimated at $1 billion.
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