Dole

Dole (Dole Food Company) is the world's largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables. It produces bananas, pineapples, table grapes, lettuce and fresh brocolli. Packaged items include packaged salads, canned pineapple, and frozen fruits. It sells in more than 90 countries around the world. The company was taken private in 2003 by its chairman David H. Murdock. He is the sole owner of Dole. It had sales of $6 billion in 2006.

Dole has come under fire for exposing workers to a nematicide called DBCP and sold under the name Nemagon. When several banana workers sued for health hazards caused by DBCP and initially won, Dole recruited and bribed witnesses to testify that the plaintiffs were fraudulent. In 2009, Dole won. In a dramatic turn of events, one of the witnesses admitted to being bribed by Dole on his deathbed in November 2009. He added that although he was bribed with a promise of $500,000, Dole never gave him the money.

Political contributions
David H. Murdock, the Chairman and sole owner of Dole, is a Bush Pioneer (see Bush's Rangers) having raised at least $100,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election.

In the 2006 election he personally gave $81,000 to Republicans and $0 to Democrats.

The Dole Food Company political action committee gave $1,000 to federal candidates in the 2006 election - all to the Republican Party.

Lobbying
The company spent $160,000 for lobbying in 2006. The lobbying was done through the lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Personnel
Key executives:
 * David H. Murdock, Chairman
 * Scott A. Griswold, Executive Vice Presient, Corporate Development, and Director
 * Brad Bartlett, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales

Contact details
1 Dole Dr. Westlake Village, CA 91362 Phone: 818-879-6600 Fax: 818-879-6615 Web: http://www.dole.com

External articles

 * Press release, "Dole Food Company Recognized by U.S. Secretary of State for Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in the Philippines," Dole via Business Wire, September 5, 2008.