Wonderful Citrus: Acquires major fruit marketing and import business

Wonderful Citrus, America’s largest integrated grower, shipper and packer of fresh citrus, has purchased DNE World Fruit, the largest citrus marketer in Florida, DNE International, the largest citrus exporter in Florida, and the assets of World Pack Cold Storage, a division of DNE Imports. As part of this transaction, Wonderful Citrus is acquiring DNE’s citrus marketing and import business, along with World Pack’s cold storage, bagging, repack and distribution center in New Jersey, according to a press release.

This acquisition, combined with existing operations, makes Wonderful Citrus the number one importer of counter-seasonal citrus products in the U.S., while doubling the company’s grapefruit position. “The addition of DNE and World Pack to the Wonderful Citrus family significantly enhances our ability to serve customers year round with a variety of fresh citrus offerings,” said David Krause, President of Wonderful Citrus. “The opportunity to significantly expand our sales reach and access new markets was a very attractive part of this deal. We look forward to teaming up with Wonderful to better leverage our collective strengths in the global citrus marketplace,” said Greg Nelson, President of DNE World Fruit. DNE’s sales employees will be offered positions with Wonderful Citrus and Greg Nelson will stay on with the company as an advisor.