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Del Monte halting Hawaii operations
2006-11-18
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. said Friday that it will halt its Hawaii operations immediately, well ahead of a 2008 closing announced this year. Del Monte said it will lay off 551 workers on or around Jan. 22. "The company's action was compelled by various factors; specifically, the production volume of pineapples is significantly lower than the company's original estimates," Del Monte said in the statement reported by Pacific Business News. The company "will not be able to sustain a financially viable operation in Hawaii as originally planned through 2008," it said. Messages left by The Associated Press with the company were not immediately returned. Del Monte announced in February that it was leaving Hawaii because it was no longer economically feasible to grow pineapple in the state. The company's last pineapple crop, which was planted later that month, will produce fruit through mid-2008. The move leaves Dole Food Co. as the only major pineapple grower on the island of Oahu. Maui Pineapple Co. is the state's largest remaining pineapple producer, farming more than 6,000 acres on Maui.
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