Media company: Chiquita returning to Gulfport

Chiquita Brands International announced plans Tuesday to relocate its Gulf of Mexico operations from the Port of New Orleans to the Port of Gulfport, according to the Packer magazine.

The move is scheduled for August, according to a press release cited by the Packer, a media company that focuses on the produce industry.

In May 2014, Chiquita announced plans to return to New Orleans after relocating operations to Gulfport in the mid-1970s.

Then earlier this year, an official with the Port of New Orleans told the Sun Herald he was aware of the banana company’s “potential interest in pursuing other strategic shipping options.”

As part of the deal to return to New Orleans, the port agreed to invest $2.2 million in improvements at a port-owned distribution and ripening facility to be leased to Chiquita as well as fund $2 million in refrigerated-container electrical infrastructure improvements and rehabilitate a container freight warehouse.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 6:41 AM with the headline "Media company: Chiquita returning to Gulfport."