DOLE ADDS FLOWERS TO ITS FOOD BUSINESS.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer In a move that adds a splash of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color to its business, Dole Food Co. Inc. on Thursday bought two fresh-cut flower companies, one of them the largest importer and marketer in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Dole would not say how much it paid for Miami-based Sunburst Farms Inc. and its affiliates. Sunburst is the biggest importer and marketer of fresh-cut flowers in the United States. In a separate deal, Westlake Village-based Dole also bought the Floramerica companies, which is the largest grower and exporter in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. of fresh-cut flowers for the domestic market. The company has flower farms in Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador. Annual revenue for the two companies is about $100 million, Dole said. ``These organizations will serve as a platform for growth in this highly fragmented frag·ment n. 1. A small part broken off or detached. 2. An incomplete or isolated portion; a bit: overheard fragments of their conversation; extant fragments of an old manuscript. 3. business, and these acquisitions will further strengthen Dole's full-service relationship with the nation's leading retailers,'' David H. Murdock David Howard Murdock (1924-), with his net worth of 4.2 billion US Dollars, is the 204th richest person in the world. A high-school dropout, Murdock was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1943. , Dole's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. The fresh-cut flower business in the United States generates about $7 billion in annual sales, making it the world's largest market. Recent growth has come from increased distribution through grocery chains, which provide some built-in synergy The enhanced result of two or more people, groups or organizations working together. In other words, one and one equals three! It comes from the Greek "synergia," which means joint work and cooperative action. for the Dole acquisition. The deal could give Dole a leading position in the domestic floral industry Floral industry is one of the major industries in many developing and underdeveloped countries. Floriculture as an industry began in the late 1800s in England, where flowers were grown on a large scale on the vast estates. and the new operations should fit well with its food business. Dole Food Co., with 1997 revenues of $4.3 billion, is the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, and markets a growing line of packaged food. ``There are a lot of parallels between our companies. We grow in the same countries and we ship and sell to the same stores so we have a lot of things in common,'' said Dole spokesman Thomas J. Pernice. |
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