Dive Brief:
- Dole Fresh Fruit has agreed to remain in the Port of Gulfport for at least 13 years, ending a long period of uncertainty for the maritime facility in which the fruit company declined to commit.
- Port officials have waited months for Dole to sign a new lease. And things didn't look great after Dole CEO David Murdock attended a ceremony at the port in June and embarrassed state officials by complaining that work at the port was "going too damn slow."
- Dole's decision to sign a new lease at Gulfport comes roughly five months after Chiquita, Gulfport's largest tenant, said it would move its operations to the rival Port of New Orleans.
Dive Insight:
Congratulations are owed to the long-suffering Port of Gulfport, which has to wait nervously while the famously cranky 91-year old David Murdock declined to sign a new lease. Now Gulfport knows that Dole will be around for at least 13 more years, with an option for another 10 years.
That means that the next time Gulfport has to negotiate with Dole, the notably healthy Murdock who has set a goal to live to be at least 125 years old, may still be around. So perhaps condolences are owed to the Port of Gulfport too.
