Port Manatee and Del Monte Fresh agree to extend relationship

Florida’s Port Manatee and Del Monte Fresh Produce NA Inc. have reached an agreement to keep the company’s fruit imports coming into seaport until at least 2026, with options through 2036.

“Continuing our decades-long partnership with Del Monte is good for Del Monte, good for Port Manatee and good for consumers throughout the U.S. Southeast who rely upon the efficient flow of bananas, pineapples, avocados and other much-in-demand fruits through the company’s regional distribution hub at our dynamic seaport,” Reggie Bellamy, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority, said in a news release. The port authority approved the latest lease agreement Oct. 21.

Under the agreement, the Coral Gables, Fla-based Del Monte has agreed to continue to lease Port Manatee warehouse facilities through at least August 2026, according to the release. In addition, the agreement has two extension options of five years each running through August 2036. The agreement is valued at more than $1 million per year, according to the release.

“Del Monte has enjoyed a strong, mutually beneficial working relationship with Port Manatee for more than 32 years, and we are delighted to sustain this partnership well into the future,” Denise Tuck, Del Monte’s Port Manatee-based port manager, said in the release.

“Expansion of the seaport’s dockside container yard facilitates our ability to maintain fluid operations bringing in produce from Central America on our fleet of energy-efficient containerships for many years to come.”

Port Manatee, according to the release, is on schedule to complete expansion of the paved container yard adjoining the seaport’s Berth 12 and 14 docks by the end of the year. That project will more than double the facility to 21.9 acres, according to the release.

Del Monte this year has completed its transition to a fleet of state-of-industry refrigerated containerships featuring fuel-efficient hull design, emissions-reducing scrubber systems, connections to operate on shore power when at berth, and the latest in preventive maintenance technologies, according to the release.

Officials said Del Monte imports represent a significant contributor to the record flow of containerized cargo through Port Manatee, which just reported a 53.3% year-over-year increase in the number of 20-foot-equivalent container units crossing its docks, reaching 135,660 TEUs in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

The latest addition to Del Monte’s imports into Port Manatee are sustainably cultivated, trademarked Pinkglow pineapples, according to the release. Pinkglow pineapples join bananas, traditional pineapples, avocados, plantains, melons and mangoes in moving into Port Manatee docks and through the company’s Southeast distribution center.

Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deep-water seaport to the expanded Panama Canal, according to the release, with 10 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo customers.

The port generates more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impacts while providing for more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs, all without benefit of local property tax support, according to the release.