This spring, senior marketing majors in the Belk College of Business put their talents to the test in a strategic marketing challenge presented by Charlotte-based Chiquita Brands.
The students, who were enrolled in the capstone course for the marketing major, worked in teams on marketing challenges developed by the company in partnership with marketing faculty members.
Chiquita Brands provided a challenge for two different classes: one class worked on Chiquita's Fresh Express brand, while the other worked on Chiquita Bananas. In the first round, students presented to marketing faculty, who determined the top four teams in each class. These students then presented to a team of Chiquita executives, including Rob Adams, senior marketing manager for bananas at Chiquita Brands; Susan Easley, manager of innovations for Chiquita's Salad and Healthy Snacking; Courtney Colosi, Chiquita Brands recruiter; and Laura Stockelman, Chiquita Brands human resources generalist. The executives selected two teams for each brand for the final round of the Chiquita Challenge, held at the company headquarters.
In the finals, numerous Chiquita managers - including President and CEO Edward Lonegran - voted on the winning teams. For the Chiquita Fresh Express challenge, the winners were the Fresh Innovations Team (FIT), shown at left, consisting of students Omar Daker, Brenden Hanes, Darius McLee, Ryan Smith, and Ricky Velez and faculty advisor Tamara Cohen. The winners of the Chiquita Bananas Challenge were Team Go Bananas (shown above), consisting of students Sultan Alotaibi, Roxanne Brown, Timothy Chu, Jared Knizley, Anita Shivraj and Casey Woodie and faculty advisor Linda Swayne.