Dole Food Company Named Grand Winner of 2011 Kapatiran sa Industriya (KAPATID) Awards

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dole Food Company (NYSE:DOLE) announced today that the Company’s Philippines division (Dolefil) received the top honor by the Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) last week at the Kapatiran sa Industriya (KAPATID) Awards. The award, which recognizes the company’s efforts in industrial peace and harmony, productivity and quality, social accountability, strategic vision and partnerships for business and employment, was presented by Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III during the Closing Ceremonies of the National Conference for Employers (NCE) on May 5, 2011.

“This award is for all our employees, our business partners and the community. Without their support, we wouldn’t have earned this achievement.”

More than 28 companies with operations in the Philippines were nominated this year. Dole and the other 10 finalists underwent a series of panel interviews with experts from different sectors of society: Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, International Labor Organization (ILO) Manila Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson, Dean Jorge Sibal of UP-School of Labor, Industrial Relations, Antonio Asper from the Federation of Free Workers and David Balangue from Makati Business Club.

Dolefil’s workplace policies and programs, characterized by management-worker harmony, quality products and processes and partnership with the community, helped the Company win against tough competitors such as Nestle Philippines, Toyota Motor Phils. and IBM Philippines.

“We are proud to be recognized for our dedication to quality business practices in the Philippines,” said Simon Denye, Dolefil VP and Managing Director. “This award is for all our employees, our business partners and the community. Without their support, we wouldn’t have earned this achievement.”

Dolefil was established in 1963 and is one of the largest integrated pineapple plantation, cannery and packaging complexes in the world. Its pineapple operations are located in various areas in the Mindanao region. The company's dedication to quality is a commitment solidly backed by comprehensive programs for food safety, scientific crop protection programs, stringent quality control measures, state-of-the-art production and transportation technologies, continuous improvement through research and innovation and dedication to the safety of the employees, communities and the environment.

Judge Lawrence Jeff Johnson, ILO Manila Director, shared, “Dole has much to be proud of. The company encompasses everything we were looking for in our top category: positive employee relations, community service, quality products and environmental responsibility.”

In 2009, Dolefil also received Special Citations for Social Accountability and Productivity and Quality from the same award-giving body.

About Dole Food Company

Dole, with 2010 net revenues of $6.9 billion, is the world’s largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, and is the leading producer of organic bananas and producer/shipper of organic pineapples. Dole markets a growing line of packaged and frozen fruit and is a produce industry leader in nutrition education and research. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.

About The KAPATID Awards

The KAPATID Awards, established in 1995, are a biennial awards activity of ECOP. The awards aim to recognize the fruitful and beneficial outcome of good and harmonious relationship of management and workers. Over the years, the KAPATID Awards evolved into a comprehensive search for best workplace policies and programs highlighted by management-worker cooperation for better labor relations; product and service quality and improved productivity; enhanced relationship with workers, their families, and the society; and the ability of the enterprise to foresee future economic and socio-political changes through long-term planning and sustainability.