8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities and Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of Earliest

Event Reported): February 2, 2004

CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

New Jersey	1-1550	04-1923360
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

250 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(513) 784-8000

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Item 12. Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

On February 2, 2004, Chiquita Brands International, Inc. issued a press release to report the scheduled time for its fourth quarter 2003 and full year financial results. The press release also corrected two items of information, one of which was included in its release of third quarter 2003 results on October 30, 2003 and both of which had been provided on the company’s conference call following the earnings release. The text of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.

Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the exhibit and the information set forth therein and herein are furnished to the Commission and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section. The information in this Current Report shall not be incorporated by reference into any registration statement pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: February 2, 2004	CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
	By:	/s/ Robert W. Olson
		Robert W. Olson
		Senior Vice President and General Counsel

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

News Release

Investors:	Monique Wise, 513-784-8935, mwise@chiquita.com
News media:	Michael Mitchell, 513-784-8959, mmitchell@chiquita.com

CHIQUITA TO REPORT ITS FOURTH QUARTER AND

FULL YEAR 2003 FINANCIAL RESULTS FEB. 17, 2004

CINCINNATI – Feb. 2, 2004 – Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (NYSE: CQB) will release fourth quarter and full-year 2003 financial results on Feb. 17, 2004, after the market closes and will host a conference call at 4:45 p.m. EST that day. Fernando Aguirre, president and chief executive officer, James Riley, senior vice president and chief financial officer, and Robert Kistinger, president and chief operating officer of Chiquita Fresh, will host the call, which will be accessible by telephone or via global webcast.

For telephone access, please contact one of the following numbers at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. In the United States, dial 1-800-818-5264. For all other locations, dial +913-981-4910. A replay of the call will be available until Feb. 24. To access, dial 1-888-203-1112 in the United States or +719-457-0820 from other locations and provide the confirmation code 574738.

To listen to the audio webcast of the conference call, please use the link on Chiquita’s home page (www.chiquita.com). The webcast will also be distributed over CCBN’s StreetEvents Network (www.streetevents.com). The CCBN StreetEvents Network provides company-specific information to individual investors through FullDisclosure.com and other leading portals, including the AOL Personal Finance Channel and Yahoo! Finance. The archived webcast will be available after the call at www.chiquita.com until 5 p.m. on March 2.

Chiquita also announced a correction to its all-in euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate for the fourth quarter of 2002 to $0.97 from $0.91, which was given during the third-quarter 2003 earnings conference call on Oct. 30. In addition, the company announced a correction to its all-in euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate for the third quarter of 2002 to $0.97 from $0.94, which was also given in the third-quarter 2003 earnings conference call on Oct. 30 and in the press release issued on that date.

– more –

Chiquita Brands International

Fourth Quarter 2003 Earnings Notification

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Chiquita Brands International is a leading international marketer, producer and distributor of high-quality bananas and other fresh produce, which are sold primarily under the premium Chiquita^® brand. The company is one of the largest banana producers in the world and a major supplier of bananas in North America and Europe. The company also distributes and markets fresh-cut fruit and other branded, value-added fruit products. Additional information is available at www.chiquita.com

Certain statements may be made on the conference call that may be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from any predictions made.

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