Del Monte Fresh Produce Expands Into Fresh Cut Citrus With Leading Edge Automation Technology.Business Editors/Food Writers CORAL GABLES Coral Gables, city (1990 pop. 40,091), Miami-Dade co., SE Fla., SW of Miami; inc. 1925. Founded at the height of the Florida land boom, Coral Gables is a noted planned city, with tree-lined boulevards and Mediterranean-style buildings. , Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2001 Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. a subsidiary of Fresh Del Monte Produce Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE: FDP) is a major producer and distributor of fruit and other agricultural products. The company came into existence in its current form in 1996, after a change of ownership. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :FDP FDP fibrin (fibrinogen) degradation product. ), announced today that it has signed an agreement that will further enhance its fresh-cut produce product line to include citrus through the application of proprietary new technology licensed from the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC FDOC Florida Department of Citrus FDOC Florida Department of Corrections FDOC Fire Direction Operation Center ). "We believe that the value of fresh-cut fruit sales will grow rapidly in the coming years," said Bryce Edmonson, Senior Vice President North America. "At the same time that we are completing our national network of local fresh-cut processing and distribution facilities, we are seeking leading edge technology to broaden our product lines. We believe this license agreement will allow us to bring attractive high-quality citrus products to market that consumers will find both convenient and appealing." Under the terms of the five-year limited exclusive agreement, that can be extended to ten years, Del Monte Fresh Produce will be the first to commercialize this innovative new technology. The license covers the patents, trade secrets and manufacturing equipment for both low pressure and vacuum fluid infusion methods for the automated peeling of fresh citrus. Del Monte Fresh Produce will market the new citrus products under the widely recognized DEL MONTE(R) brand. The FDOC will provide funds for the citrus peeling equipment and will contribute towards the initial cost of marketing Florida citrus. "We look forward to working closely with the FDOC and using this very exciting Citrus Peeling System to build sales of fresh-cut citrus in new and existing markets," said Mr. Edmonson. "Work is underway at our Plant City, Florida Plant City is a city in Hillsborough County, Florida, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. The population was 29,915 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 30,906 [1]. facility to install the new cutting-edge equipment." Del Monte Fresh Produce is a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Fresh Del Monte Inc. which is a leading vertically integrated producer and marketer of high quality fresh and packaged fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. Our products include bananas, pineapples, cantaloupe cantaloupe: see gourd; melon. , honeydew, watermelons, grapes, non-tropical fruit (including citrus, apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots and kiwi), plantains, Vidalia(R) sweet onions and various greens. We market our products worldwide under the DEL MONTE(R) brand, a symbol of product quality and reliability since 1892. This release and other press releases are available on the Company's web site http://www.freshdelmonte.com. |
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