U.S. multinational Dole Food Company will soon have its first own production of Chilean blueberries, as the company acquires farms spanning 1,000 hectares in Molina and Linares. 

The TucFrut property, located 140 miles south of the capital Santiago, consists of five different farms and currently produces apples, blueberries and kiwifruit across 660 hectares.

"With the acquisition of TucFrut we are strengthening our leadership of Dole’s Chilean deciduous export business and diversified fruit operations," Dole Food Company president and COO Johan Linden.

"Dole Chile has been a success story for Dole since the 1980s based on our grower supply and a worldwide distribution under the Dole label."

The company said the purchase would strengthen its current product portfolio with premium apple varieties and kiwifruit, while also providing farmland yet to be developed for production.

"A large portion of the farm is yet to be planted and we intend to plant varieties that will satisfy our customers' needs in the years to come," Dole Diversified Fruit Operations president Francisco Chacon said.

"The TucFrut fruit farms acquisition is the most visible part of our growth in Chile this year."

In addition to the TucFrut acquisition, Dole has also recently added three additional grape farms totaling more than 600 hectares.

Dole said this acquisition was aligned with its push toward investing and upgrading its packing and post-harvest infrastructure as well as improving grower services.

This investment is fully incremental to the current supply base and is a further commitment to the Chilean produce industry and the wider landscape of citrus and deciduous produce, the company added.

Photo: www.shutterstock.com

www.freshfruitportal.com