Posts Tagged “Dole Food Company”
Global fresh produce marketer Dole plc terminated its agreement to sell its Fresh Vegetable Division to Fresh Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chiquita Holdings Limited (Chiquita).
In a release Thursday morning, the company said the decision resulted from the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to pursue litigation to prevent the transaction.
The DOJ said Thursday that it had concerns about the deal’s impact on competition in the packaged salad market.
“At a time when food companies are already overcharging Americans for groceries, today’s abandonment preserves lower prices and availability for an essential kitchen staple,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Antitrust Division in a statement.
“This merger would have reduced the number of competitors from three to two and raised grocery prices for food products that are purchased by 85% of American households. I am grateful for the tireless efforts of the Antitrust Division’s lawyers, economists, paralegals, and professional staff who made this result possible.”
In January 2023, the company announced a ‘definitive agreement’ to sell the division for gross proceeds of approximately US$293 million, subject to certain adjustments.
At the time, they said the transaction was subject to regulatory approval and the parties expected the transaction would close after obtaining approval.
This morning, the company put out the following statement regarding the announcement:
“While Dole strongly disagrees with the Department of Justice’s decision and continues to believe that the transaction was pro-competitive and would have unlocked ongoing benefits to customers and consumers, we remain confident that we will have an alternative path forward in the near term that is in the best interests of the Fresh Vegetables Division’s employees, customers, and partners, and the Dole plc shareholders.”
The company’s executive chairman Carl McCann previously said the deal with Fresh Express would improve their offering and service to customers and consumers through increased investments in innovation, efficiencies, and food safety.
CHARLOTTE, NC – Dole Food Company recently announced the launch of a new weekly vessel service that will call the Northeast United States that started December 31, 2023.
The expanded service will increase capacity of tropical fresh fruits, including Dole branded bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit, mangoes and limes coming to the US from Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala into the Port of Wilmington, DE.
The service will deploy two 1,200 FEU container vessels, MV Robin-2, and MV Robin-5 in a 14-day rotation,with one of these vessels making weekly ports of call in Santa Marta, Colombia, Puerto Castilla, Honduras, and a new port of service in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala before landing in Wilmington, DE each Saturday.
Both additional vessels entering the expanded service will allow for optimum freshness of the fruit through increased sourcing options, discharges, and port rationalization. These vessels allow for increased fuel efficiency of our service derived from slow speed operation.
All other existing Dole shipping services will be unchanged.
Dole Ocean Cargo Express, the company’s commercial marine transportation service is also utilizing these vessels with the introduction of the Mayan Express Service between the Northeast United States and Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The new service will expand ocean network coverage providing an additional alternative to North Central America to and from the Port of Wilmington, DE.
“Dole is excited to expand our service level into the Northeast, bringing even more fresh tropical fruit to market,” stated Nelson Montoya, President of Dole Fresh Fruit North America. “Both existing and future Dole customers can be equally excited at this growth in our service as we continue our journey to make the world a healthier place.”
About Dole Food Company
Dole Food Company, part of Dole plc, is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite overwhelming public acceptance of fruits and vegetables as essential to the health of their families, kids and the future of the planet, close to half of all Americans largely ignore the benefits of eating produce.
These are among the highlights of a March 2022 survey conducted by Dole Food Company, Inc., to examine public opinions about the preparation, consumption, motivations and nutrition and environmental benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables. Released today on National Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Day, an annual holiday created in 2015 to raise awareness and encourage more Americans to adopt a produce-rich diet, the survey results offer a glimpse into the public’s often-contradictory views on healthier eating.
According to the Dole Fresh Produce Survey, which polled 1,038 adults, almost three-fourths of respondents (73%) agree that fruits and vegetables are a healthy choice for their family, while 68% think they taste great, 63% say they are necessary for kids’ lunches and 60% believe they add flavor to any meal. Just over half of respondents (51%) also associate eating more fruits and vegetables with positively impacting the environment.
Almost the same percentage of survey-takers (45%) consider health and nutrition to be the most important factor determining their eating habits, and more than a third (37%) say they consume produce as part of a larger strategy of adopting a plant-based diet or lifestyle.
Finally, on the subject of fruit and vegetable recipes and preparation, close to half believe they can prepare produce in little or no time (48%) and insist they have a meal or recipe in mind when buying from the produce department (46%).
Despite these mostly positive associations with fruits and vegetables, the survey found that almost half (48%) of participants think the general public is still ignorant about the health and environmental impacts of fresh produce, which ultimately limits consumption.
“This survey is more proof of the disconnect between Americans’ desire to eat healthier, including a produce-rich diet, and their ability to make that lifestyle a reality, given all of life’s demands,” said William Goldfield, Dole director of corporate communications. “At Dole, we realize that healthy living can be a challenge – which is why we’re committed to continually providing the highest quality fresh produce, fantastic plant-forward recipes, serving suggestions, education and wellness advice that can transform the desire for increased nutritional health into a daily routine for anyone, regardless of where they are on their personal health journey.”
Goldfield said that past Dole research has helped shape healthy-living campaigns such as this year’s “Healthier by Dole” monthly recipe series that provides healthier, easier and tastier menu alternatives for big and small holidays and eating occasions and new Dole products, including the industry-leading DOLE® Chopped Salad Kit, DOLE® Fresh Takes Ready-to-Eat and DOLE® Sheet Pan lines.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In the face of a possible pumpkin shortage and soaring pumpkin prices, Dole Food Company, Inc. is encouraging Halloween revelers to carve a pineapple instead this year.
The pineapple and fresh produce leader is stepping-up this year’s annual Pineapple-O’-Lantern initiative – originally created to promote the nutrition and convenience benefits of the ubiquitous tropical fruit synonymous with Dole’s origins in Hawaii – to help suddenly stranded Halloween lovers without a pumpkin to carve.
In addition to promoting a special recipe, its Pineapple Jack-O’-Lantern and Bountiful Fruit Salad with Orange-Mint Dressing, Dole is offering free, downloadable pineapple Jack-O’-Lantern carving templates on the Dole.com website to make the process as fun, safe and easy as possible.
“For years we’ve been encouraging fruit-loving families to try something new by carving a pineapple at Halloween and are now expanding our efforts in light of any possible pumpkin scarcity,” said Melanie Marcus, RD, MA, Dole’s nutrition and health communications manager. “Of course, pineapples have an important nutritional profile and are so much easier to prepare and enjoy than pumpkins since you don’t have to cook them.”
According to Marcus, the fruit is low in fat and sodium and high in vitamin C and antioxidants – making it the perfect sweet treat after a night of trick-or-treating.
In addition to the Bountiful Fruit Salad recipe, Marcus recommends Dole’s Pineapple Braised Slow Cooker Chicken and Pineapple-Turmeric Smoothie as other fall favorites. She offers tips for planning a healthier Halloween in her dedicated blog post on the Dole website and points to new studies showing that childhood obesity rose significantly during the pandemic as one reason behind Dole’s expanded healthy Halloween focus this year.
For more information, please visit www.dole.com and Dole’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest pages.
About Dole plc
Dole plc is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education and research. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.
Dole Food Company has ordered of 500 energy-efficient reefer units from Maersk Container Industry (MCI), working in cooperation with leasing company, Textainer.
Star Cool’s AV+ system allows the units to control fresh air intake by a preselected maximum level of CO2 inside the reefer. These units allow Dole to have greater control over the product while shipping. AV+ was designed to maximize cargo freshness of delicate bananas and other fresh fruit, as vessels traverse the tropics while optimizing energy efficiency.
On a warm day, it would be counterproductive to drive a car with the air conditioning on and the windows open; in layman’s terms, the logic behind AV+ is similar, an MCI statement said.
“Dole prioritizes quality and innovation in all aspects of their business,” said Global ad of Sales and Marketing at MCI, Anders Holm to Portal Portuario. “These are also values that are important to MCI and we are very pleased about Dole confirming their trust in MCI by expanding their operated Star Cool fleet once again.”
Dole will pick up the new reefers with their own container vessel newbuilding Dole Maya from the port of Qingdao in China.
By Dole Food Company
LATROBE, Pa. — Last year, the world watched as Latrobe, Pa., was officially recognized as the birthplace of the banana split with the unveiling of a historical marker from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in honor of National Banana Split Day. This spirited, appealing ceremony, held at the location where the banana split was first created in 1904, kicked-off a weekend-long celebration of the classic American dessert christened the Great American Banana Split Celebration.
Since Dole Fresh Fruit wants to be where banana lovers are, the banana leader teamed up once again with The City of Latrobe and Saint Vincent College to continue this sweet tradition, honoring the iconic, triple-scoop treat – as well as the city where it all began – by hosting Second Annual Great American Banana Split Celebration, a two-day celebration of both the classic banana split and new, healthier versions developed by Dole.
The festival culminated with August 26th launch of National Banana Split Day at the exact place in Latrobe, the former site of Tassel Pharmacy, where David Strickler created the first banana split 110 years ago.
Dole Fresh Fruit, based in Westlake Village, Calif., served as a title sponsor of the event and provided thousands of DOLE® Bananas and recipes for banana-themed snacks, entrees, drinks and of course, banana splits. Continuing in its tradition of offering “guilt-free” versions of classic desserts, Dole used its involvement to offer recipes for healthier banana split varieties featuring bananas topped with Greek yogurt, sorbet, honey, pomegranate seeds, berries, sliced pineapples and other fresh fruit.
“Last year we celebrated Latrobe as the birthplace of the banana split but also introduced healthier ways to enjoy this iconic dessert as part of Dole’s commitment to health and nutrition,” said Bill Goldfield, Dole’s director of corporate communications. “As America’s number one banana provider, Dole helped host the 2014 event to reinforce this message that there are healthy-but-fun—and just as delicious— alternatives to the ‘traditional’ banana split.”
About The City of Latrobe
With its relatively small size and proximity to Pittsburgh, the City of Latrobe affords its residents a full service community nestled within one of Pennsylvania’s most beautiful regions. Latrobe is recognized as the birthplace of the original banana split, Mr. Fred Rogers, Arnold Palmer, and the first ever professional football team.