dole

UK-based fresh produce ripener, marketer and distributor JP Fresh Limited will change its name this weekend to Dole Fresh UK Limited, following its recent takeover by France's Compagnie Fruitière.

Dole Food, which purchased the company in October 2006, reached agreement with the French group last September to sell the UK firm as well as its ripening and distribution business in France.

The JP Group was established in 1929 in order to market bananas in the UK. Known as JP Fruit until the Dole takeover, it was the UK marketing and sales operation for Jamaican bananas.

Following its sale to Dole, JP Fruit, the company was renamed JP Fresh Ltd.