Leading fruit and vegetable marketer Del Monte Fresh Produce has announced that one of itsNorth Americasubsidiaries hasacquired approximately 2,620 acres of agricultural production land located Northwest of Palm Beach, Florida.
“The land on the east side of Lake Okeechobee is ideally located and has an ample water supply which is excellent for the cultivation of tomatoes and other crops,' explained Paul Rice,senior vice-president forNorth America operationsat Del Monte Fresh Produce.'This acquisition is an excellent opportunity for us to fill in the winter gap in our local field grown tomato programme and we are now confident that we can offer our customers a continuous field grown tomato programme year-round.
According to Rice, the newly acquired land willalso allowsthe groupto expand its tomato and vegetable product offerings, by adding a range of other crops such as cucumbers, bell peppers, watermelons and squash.
“As we communicated late in 2013, following the acquisition of approximately 7,200 total acres of agricultural production land, packing houses and farm equipment inFloridaandVirginia, this newest acquisition is further proof of our commitment to the tomato category and our intent to expand our other vegetable and melon offerings,' he added.'At the same time, we plan to continue to work with our third party producers.”
