In our discussions on Food and Processed food with Analyst Heather Jones this week, one of her top picks was the familiar company, Chiquita (CQB).

Starting with their famous bananas, pricing is currently very firm both in the US and overseas. She says that this reflects a more rational competitive environment, and a greater demand- made by a lack of supply by other competing fruits.

The weakness of the US dollar is another factor that is positive for Chiquita. For every penny move up in the euro, it means $5 million in annualized EBIT.

In terms of cost, the WTO ruling against the EU’s discrimnatory banana import trade regime, which could lead to significant cost saving in the future.

For the full Food and Processed food issue, including interviews with CEOs from a variety of food and processed food companies, and more stock picks, click here.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Natural Resources Stocks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.