Dive Summary:
- Following Dole Food Co.'s sale of its packaged-goods units and Asia fresh-produce business to Itochu Corp. this year for $1.7 billion, the company is refocusing with an eye on fresh vegetables and fruits outside of Asia, the Los Angeles Times reports.
- The company intends to buy three new container ships with refrigeration capabilities to bolster its capabilities on the West Coast as it looks to opportunities in the Wester Hemisphere, Europe and Africa.
- Former chief executive David A. DeLorenzo left Dole to go to Itochu, leaving the role to Dole Chairman David H. Murdock.
From the article:
... The company, also a major provider of bananas, expects lower revenue but higher profit as it concentrates on its fresh vegetable and fruit businesses in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Africa.
Dole, which helped make pineapples one of Hawaii's top exports, retains sprawling farms of the fruit in the Aloha State. ...