2010 Power 50: No. 37 David DeLorenzo

In a year torn by a worldwide financial crisis, Dole Food Co., led by President and Chief Executive Officer David DeLorenzo, weathered the storm and laid the groundwork for strong growth.

“Our biggest challenge last year definitely was the financial crisis. Unfortunately, we had some debt coming due that had to be refinanced,” DeLorenzo told SN.

“But we succeeded. We got all our debt basically refinanced, and toward the end of the year, we did an IPO and went public with some of our stock. We got our financial situation in very good shape, paying down our debt by 30% in one of the worst financial years any of us has faced.”

The company, under DeLorenzo’s watch, had already cut its debt the previous year to $2.1 billion. Then, by the end of 2009, the company, by going public and selling non-core assets, had brought it down to $1.4 billion.

DeLorenzo said he’s now anxious to turn his focus to current and future products.

“We’ve achieved a good turnaround in our vegetable business,” he said. “We introduced and relaunched some products, and had a big marketing campaign to reinvigorate the salad category. So now, we’re excited about trying to move the fresh-cut salad business forward.”

What’s more, plenty of new products that have been in development are on schedule for launching, some even ahead of schedule.

“Now that the economy seems to be getting better, we’re accelerating spending on new product development. In fact, one — a whole new line of packaged foods — that was scheduled for 2011 or 2012 will be ready at the end of this year.”

Meanwhile, fruit crisps and a fruit cup with granola on top, which rolled out the first quarter of this year, is doing very well, he said.

And, scientists at the company’s new laboratory at its North Carolina Research Campus are at work on research that could open new territory for the company.

“They’re doing core research on micronutrients — which ones are in different foods. We’re all familiar with the vitamins and minerals we grew up with, but there’s a lot more that science is finding.”

Since the project is still in the “brainstorming” stage, DeLorenzo said he could not give an example of what products will result from the research, but he said the line will fall into the “nutrition” or “health” category, such as health bars and drinks — a new area for Dole.

DeLorenzo said the company also is looking to give a big push to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables by working with supermarkets on promotional activity and developing materials that will inform consumers about good nutrition.

“We’d like to switch people from pills to proper eating,” he said. “We’re in step with what consumers worldwide want — a healthier lifestyle.”