Dole Sunshine Co., the food and beverage company that grows most of its pineapples in the Philippines, is planning to expand its operations in the provinces. It will also be increasing its investments to include growing other fruits and producing biofuel from crop waste.
Christian Wiegele, global president of Dole Sunshine’s fresh produce group, said in an online interview that the company plans to increase its farm production area in the country: “We are working together with our local teams, local municipalities, and local partners to increase our hectares for pineapples. The same goes for other selected produce. We definitely plan to continue investing and growing our business here in the Philippines across the whole brand portfolio.”
Wiegele said the firm had been growing its produce across more than 30,000 hectares of farmland that cover areas in Davao, General Santos City, Bukidnon, and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao, and a small farm operation in Luzon.
Dole provides direct and indirect employment to 40,000 employees, he said, adding that the majority of the company’s overall output comes from the Philippines, particularly for bananas and pineapples for export to other countries. He did not give exact production numbers.
Source: bworldonline.com
