Segment Information

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Information

Segment Information

The company reports three business segments:

• Bananas: Includes the sourcing (purchase and production), transportation, marketing and distribution of bananas.

• Salads and Healthy Snacks: Includes ready-to-eat, packaged salads, referred to in the industry as "value-added salads" and other value-added products, such as healthy snacking items, fresh vegetable and fruit ingredients used in food service; processed fruit ingredient products; and the company's equity-method investment in the Danone JV, which sold Chiquita-branded fruit smoothies in Europe. In March 2013, the Danone JV sold its smoothie operations and the Chiquita brand is now licensed to a third-party manufacturer of smoothies in Europe. The JV continues pending resolution of its remaining obligations; the company has fully accrued any probable cash funding requirements to the JV.

• Other Produce: Includes the sourcing, marketing and distribution of whole fresh produce other than bananas. As part of the restructuring plan, the company exited the North American deciduous business after the end of the California grape season at the end of 2012. Subsequently, the primary product of the Other Produce segment is pineapples.

Certain corporate expenses are not allocated to the reportable segments and are included in "Corporate costs," including costs related to the relocation of the company's headquarters and restructuring activities described in Note 2. Inter-segment transactions are eliminated.

Financial information for each segment follows:

	Quarter ended March 31,
(In thousands)	2013			2012
Net sales:
Bananas	$	507,951		$	520,226
Salads and Healthy Snacks	240,072			237,813
Other Produce	26,229			35,445
	$	774,252		$	793,484
Operating income (loss):
Bananas1	$	30,231		$	19,015
Salads and Healthy Snacks2	6,757			266
Other Produce3	(378		)	(6,002		)
Corporate costs4	(11,472		)	(13,713		)
	$	25,138		$	(434	)

¹  Includes the acceleration of $6 million of losses on ship sublease arrangements in the first quarter of 2012, net of $2 million of related sale-leaseback gain amortization during the sublease period. As part of the company's European shipping reconfiguration, five ships, two in the fourth quarter of 2011 and three in the first quarter of 2012, were removed from service and subleased. The primary leases for an equivalent number of ships were not renewed at the end of 2012. These accelerated sublease losses are included in "Cost of sales."

²  Includes $1 million of "Cost of sales" in the first quarter of 2013 for severance costs related to a fruit ingredient business. Includes $1 million of "Cost of sales" in the first quarter of 2012 primarily related to inventory write-offs to exit healthy snacking products that were not sufficiently profitable and $1 million of "Selling, general and administrative" to restructure the European healthy snacking sales force. These costs related to actions completed during the first quarter of 2012.

³  Includes $2 million of "Cost of sales" in the first quarter of 2012, primarily related to inventory write-offs to exit low-margin other produce.

⁴  Includes "Restructuring and relocation costs" further detailed in Note 2.