PALMETTO, FL — Port Manatee will have Del Monte fruit as a tenant for up to 20 more years.
Del Monte Fresh Produce NA Inc., , has signed a lease extension through Aug. 30, 2021 with Florida’s Port Manatee.
The company has imported fruit through the port since 1989. Under the agreement Del Monte has options for three additional five-year extensions. If all options are exercised, Del Monte will be doing business at Port Manatee until at least 2036.
The lease agreement will continue to pay the port $108,000 a year.
“Extension of Port Manatee’s long-term partnership with Del Monte demonstrates the mutual commitment on the part of our port and a most-valued tenant,” said Betsy Benac, chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, which OK’d the lease extension recently.
“We are very pleased to continue our relationship with Port Manatee,” said Brian Giuliani, Del Monte’s Port Manatee-based port manager. “The cooperation with Port Manatee is exceptional and has been vital to the growth of our business at Port Manatee.”
Since 1989, Del Monte, based in Coral Gables, FL, has moved 8.7 million short tons* of cargo through the port, and the company’s distribution center there has become the company’s second-largest U.S. facility.
One of the North America’s largest marketers and distributors of fresh produce and the world’s No. 1 marketer of fresh pineapple, Del Monte uses refrigerated ships to import bananas and pineapples from Central America weekly.
Export cargo on the Del Monte ships includes liner board that is used for packaging, as well as various third-party containers and project cargo.
Del Monte is one of the world’s leading producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, as well as a leading producer and distributor of prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, beverages and healthy snacks in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the countries formerly part of the Soviet Union.
*The short ton is a unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (907.18474 kg), that is most commonly used in the United States where it is known simply as the ton.