Clean Bananas
Posted 10th January 2001

Dole Fresh Fruit Company, a subsidiary of US Dole Food Company Inc., plans to begin offering certified organic bananas to consumers this month. Dole Food Co. Inc., with 1999 revenues of $5.1 billion, is the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit, vegetables and fresh cut flowers, and markets a growing line of packaged foods. The Company's historical record in its prime growing region, Central America is full of political and economic interference in Central American nations in the interests of its own bottom lines. One has to suspect that this move to organics signals the perceived profits to be made (or lost if not participating) in the rapidly growing demand for organic produce despite the pious words of Dole's PR. For several years, the company has been conducting research into the production of organic bananas, which are grown without the use of commercial chemicals and fertilizers. Emphasizing to the public improvements in soil fertility, as well as biological and cultural approaches to pests and plant diseases, Dole is now able to add organic bananas to its list of fresh fruit products.

The organic bananas will be grown in Ecuador and Honduras on farms that have been certified as organic by U.S.-based certification agencies and inspected by the Independent Organic Inspectors Association to ensure organic integrity. Dole's Latin American subsidiary, Standard Fruit de Costa Rica, was the first major banana producing area in the world to be certified to the International Organization for Standardization's environmental management system standard, ISO 14001. All of Dole's farms that grow bananas in Latin America and Asia are now certified to ISO 14001. The bananas will first be available to Dole's West Coast customers. Over the following months, the program will be expanded to offer the new organic bananas to all of North America. No word on the many international markets, including New Zealand, that are supplied by Dole.