Editing Dole plc (section)

===2000{{endash}}present: Recovery and merger with Total Produce===
In the early 2000s, Dole struggled financially and was nearly bankrupt.<ref name="LAT2">{{cite news |title=Dole, the world's largest fresh fruit and vegetable company, is stepping back from Southland |last1=Mohan |first1=Geoffrey |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dole-socal-20170830-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 30, 2017 |accessdate=June 1, 2022}}</ref> Murdock rescued the company, which had been publicly traded, and took it private in 2003.<ref name="WSJ1"/>

During this same period, lawsuits related to the use of the pesticide [[DBCP]] were filed against Dole. The company, along with [[Shell plc|Shell]] and [[Dow Chemical Company]], was ordered by a court in [[Managua]], [[Nicaragua]], to pay banana workers $489.4 million in 2003, but the companies declined to pay the fine.<ref name="NYT4">{{cite news |title=Banana Workers Get Day in Court |last1=Gonzalez |first1=David |last2=Loewenberg |first2=Samuel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/18/business/international-business-banana-workers-get-day-in-court.html |work=The New York Times |date=18 January 2003 |accessdate=9 June 2022}}</ref> In 2007, a California judge awarded $2.3 million to Nicaraguan banana workers who sued Dole for its DBCP use. However, the ruling was overturned in 2010, with another judge noting a lack of evidence connecting the workers to Dole plantations and fraud committed by the plaintiffs' lawyers.<ref name="LAT3">{{cite news |title=Judge throws out verdict awarding millions to Dole workers |last1=Kim |first1=Victoria |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-16-la-me-dole-20100716-story.html#:~:text=Putting%20an%20end%20to%20years,on%20American%2Drun%20banana%20farms. |work=Los Angeles Times |date=16 July 2010 |accessdate=17 March 2022}}</ref> Swedish filmmaker [[Fredrik Gertten]] made a documentary about the latter lawsuit, entitled ''[[Bananas!*]]'', which led to a [[defamation]] lawsuit by Dole.<ref name="Reuters1">{{cite news |title=Dole sues "Bananas" documentary maker |last1=Keating |first1=Gina |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dole-lawsuit-idUSTRE5677C520090708 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=8 July 2009 |accessdate=18 May 2022}}</ref> Dole lost the suit and was ordered to pay the filmmakers [[Swedish krona|SEK]] 1,400,000.<ref name="DN1">{{cite web |last1=Mlik |first1=Nora |title=The movie "Bananas" won against Dole |url=http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/film-tv/-filmen-bananas-vann-mot-dole |website=[[Dagens Nyheter]] |access-date=17 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116171719/http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/film-tv/-filmen-bananas-vann-mot-dole |archive-date=16 January 2013 |language=Swedish |date=16 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Gertten made a follow-up [[documentary]] about the defamation suit that premiered in 2012, entitled ''[[Big Boys Gone Bananas!*]]''.<ref name="Ottawa1">{{cite news |title=Free speech, corporate lies and bananas; Hard-hitting documentary tells how Swedish filmmaker and Canadian producer took on the big boys at Dole Food Company |last1=Monk |first1=Katherine |url= |work=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |date=28 January 2012 |accessdate=}}</ref>

Total Produce was spun off from Fyffes in 2006 as a fresh fruit and vegetable business separate from the tropical fruits business of Fyffes.<ref name="Total1"/> Upon establishment, the firm was one of the largest produce companies in Europe, leading in Ireland, [[Spain]], [[Sweden]], [[Denmark]], and the [[Czech Republic]].<ref name="IT3">{{cite news |title=Fruitful strategy |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/fruitful-strategy-1.1200598 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=22 July 2022 |language=en |date=6 April 2007}}</ref> In 2007, Total Produce expanded further into the [[United Kingdom]], purchasing British firm Redbridge Holdings for £11.75 million.<ref name="IT4">{{cite news |last1=Keena |first1=Colm |title=Total purchase boosts share price |newspaper=The Irish TImes |date=13 January 2007}}</ref>

In 2009, Dole was sued by families of banana workers in [[Colombia]], who alleged that the company had bankrolled militias that killed thousands of Colombians, including [[trade union]] organizers.<ref name="Cleveland1">{{cite news |title=Suit claims Dole Foods bankrolled Colombian death squads to kill labor organizers, farmers |last1=Meyer |first1=Bill |url=https://www.cleveland.com/world/2009/04/suit_claims_dole_foods_bankrol.html |work=[[Cleveland.com]] |date=28 April 2009 |accessdate=18 May 2022}}</ref> The suit was [[dismissed with prejudice]] the following year.<ref name="Cleveland2">{{cite news |title=Suit linking Dole to Colombia militias dismissed |last1= |first1= |url=https://www.cleveland.com/business/2010/09/suit_linking_dole_to_colombia.html |work=Cleveland.com |date=17 September 2010 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |accessdate=18 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="LABJ1">{{cite news |last1=Crowe |first1=Deborah |title=Worker Lawsuit Against Dole Dismissed |url=https://labusinessjournal.com/retail/colombian-worker-lawsuit-against-dole-dismissed/ |access-date=25 July 2022 |work=[[Los Angeles Business Journal]] |date=17 September 2010}}</ref>

Murdock took Dole public again in 2009, raising $446 million in the process.<ref name="WSJ2">{{cite news |title=Dole Executives Ordered to Pay $148 Million in Buyout Lawsuit |last1=Hoffman |first1=Liz |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/dole-executives-ordered-to-pay-148-million-in-buyout-lawsuit-1440686542 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=27 August 2015 |accessdate=16 March 2022}}</ref>

In 2012, Dole reached a deal to sell its packaged food division and Asian fresh produce operations to the Japanese firm [[Itochu]] for $1.7 billion,<ref name="Reuters2">{{cite news |title=Dole Food sells two businesses to Itochu for $1.7 billion |last1=Sheldrick |first1=Aaron |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dolefood-itochu-idUSBRE88H01L20120918 |work=Reuters |date=17 September 2012 |accessdate=16 March 2022}}</ref> with the purchase concluding in April 2013.<ref name="fbn">{{cite news |title=Itochu completes purchase of Dole businesses |url=https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/2047-itochu-completes-purchase-of-dole-businesses |access-date=20 October 2022 |work=Food Business News |date=2 April 2013}}</ref> As part of the Itochu deal, the Dole brand continued to be used for some packaged food products worldwide and fresh produce in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, although the Dole Food Company had no business involvement for these products.<ref name=Reuters2/><ref name=fbn/> In August 2013, Murdock reacquired Dole as a private company at a valuation of $1.6 billion.<ref>{{cite news |title=David H. Murdock Completes Acquisition of Dole Food Company, Inc. |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131101005872/en/David-H.-Murdock-Completes-Acquisition-of-Dole-Food-Company-Inc. |access-date=20 October 2022 |work=Businesswire |date=1 November 2013}}</ref> He and Dole Food Company President Michael Carter were later sued by investors for undervaluing the company during the Itochu deal, and in 2015, a judge in [[Delaware]] ordered the pair to pay shareholders $148 million for intentionally lowering the value of Dole stock prior to the buyout.<ref name="AP1">{{cite news |title=Dole Food CEO, former top exec ordered to pay $148M |last1=Chase |first1=Randall |url=https://apnews.com/article/d22cfad5ae5744f4a0b204fc64783b18 |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=August 27, 2015 |accessdate=May 27, 2022}}</ref>

Total Produce purchased a 45% stake in the Dole Food Company in 2018, and merged with Dole in 2021 to form Dole plc.<ref name="Total1"/><ref name="IT5">{{cite news |title=Total Produce to buy stake in Dole Food Company for $300m |last1=O'Brien |first1=Ciara |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/agribusiness-and-food/total-produce-to-buy-stake-in-dole-food-company-for-300m-1.3376427 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=2 February 2018 |accessdate=17 May 2022}}</ref> Dole plc ({{NYSE|DOLE}}) began trading on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] in July 2021.<ref name="CNBC7-1">{{cite news |title=Dole stock slides 9% in public market debut on New York Stock Exchange |last1=Lucas |first1=Amelia |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/30/dole-ipo-stock-falls-6percent-in-market-debut-on-new-york-stock-exchange.html |work=CNBC |date=30 July 2021 |accessdate=18 May 2022}}</ref>

[[Image:Pineapple maze 1.JPG|thumb|Pineapple maze, Dole Plantation, Oahu, Hawaii]]
[[File:Dole Mascots (41848912380) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Bobby Banana and Pinellopy Pineapple in San Diego, 2018]]