Dole Acquires 2 Cut-Flower Suppliers

Dole Food Co. bought two fresh-flower companies in an effort to offer more products to supermarkets that already buy Dole’s fruit, vegetables and salads. Westlake Village-based Dole, the world’s largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, said it acquired closely held Sunburst Farms Inc., the largest U.S. importer of fresh-cut flowers, and closely held Floramerica Co., Latin America’s largest grower and exporter of cut flowers to the U.S. The combined annual revenue for the companies is about $100 million. Terms of the transactions weren’t disclosed. Dole said 84% of U.S. supermarkets now have floral departments, up from 55% in 1984. Dole stock rose 44 cents to close at $46.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.