The multinational Dole, the largest exporter of fruit in the country, announced that it had investment plans for US $20 million in Chile this year, which includes the construction of three new fruit processing plants, one of which will be located in the commune of Coquimbo and that would require an investment of close to US$3 million.
The infrastructure will be located on the road connecting Coquimbo to the city of Ovalle in the area of Nueva Vida. "This change is to update our facilities and to be at a better location than we were at in the past, because the industrial neighbourhood was getting very complicated," he says.
The executive also added that the project was a result of a plan to modernize the firm. "We are constructing this plant taking into consideration the new standards for operating more efficiently and improving logistics," he says.
The infrastructure is designed to be operational on November 30, to meet the needs of the 2013-2014 season. Currently, Dole ships from the Coquimbo region mainly to the US, Canada, Latin America and Asia, among others.
It's worth noting that the company projected growing 8% this year with revenues of US $300 million. Dole Chile currently sells to over 70 countries. A business that has become global in the last decade and where the US remains the largest market for grapes.
