Updated at 4:19 p.m., Friday, November 17, 2006
Del Monte to shut down 2 years ahead of schedule
Advertiser Staff
Del Monte Fresh Produce said today it will cease operations immediately and lay off 551 people on or around Jan. 22.In February Del Monte had said it was planting its last pineapple crop that month at the Kunia plantation and would cease its more than century-old Hawai'i operation at the end of 2008.
In a letter to the state labor department today, Del Monte did not say why it was moving the timetable up by nearly two years.
Del Monte's departure will leave Dole Food Co. as the only major pineapple grower on O'ahu. Dole employs about 250 unionized workers.
Maui Land & Pineapple subsidiary Maui Pineapple Co. remains the state's largest pineapple producer, with operations on more than 6,000 acres on Maui.
In 2004, Hawai'i's pineapple industry employed 1,200 workers, according to state figures.
