New Dole plant ups private label production of frozen fruit

Dole has expanded its manufacturing footprint, increasing frozen fruit production for its private label, retail and foodservice customers on the east coast through a new 60,000-sq.-ft. plant in McDonough, Ga.

The facility opened Jan. 28 and is fully automated with four manufacturing lines that can turn out 60 million pounds of frozen fruit annually. Production has begun in a phased approach and should be fully operational by September 2021. Once at full speed, the plant will employ more than 100 Dole associates and run three shifts.

The company partnered with United States Cold Storage to handle the warehousing and distribution of its products in an adjacent building with a state-of-the-art automated storage and retrieval system. 

Dole Packaged Goods is based in Westlake Village, Calif., where it has a frozen fruit facility in nearby Atwater, Calif. It also has a frozen fruit plant in Decatur, Mich. This latest facility makes the third. The company said it picks fruit at the peak of ripeness that then gets flash frozen to retain the nutrients and vitamins found in fresh fruit. 

“We are very pleased to have this facility operational,” stated Sunil Phabiani, vice president of North America supply chain and operations at Dole Packaged Foods. “One of our company's main initiatives is to provide access to good nutrition for a billion people in the next few years. This operation will help us achieve this goal.”

Last year the company announced “The Dole Promise,” aiming to increase access to sustainable nutrition, decrease food waste, plastics in packaging and carbon emissions and grow value for company stakeholders, including farmers and shareholders.