Dole Chile made the largest investment in its history last year sinking $16 million into its operations in the South American country.
A quarter of the funds went into high-technology grading equipment to sort fruit by colour, size and weight.
The Chilean subsidiary contributes seven per cent of the multi-national’s annual income and is aiming to diversify its product range and reduce costs further in order to remain competitive. The weakness of the dollar against the Chilean peso has meant that earnings were some 10 per cent down on 2004 last year as costs rose by $5m.
Dole Chile is also spicing up its product mix with fresh-cut salads for the local market and an investment in blueberries to complement its traditional exports to the US of grapes, apples, stonefruit, pears and kiwifruit. Dole Chile has also been producing its own export cartons to further reduce costs representing an investment of some $7m over the past two years.
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