PORT HUENEME : Del Monte Building Cold Storage Facility

Del Monte executives, harbor officials and politicians gathered among boxes of pineapples and bananas at the Port of Hueneme on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking of Del Monte’s first cold storage facility on the West Coast.

The 40,000-square-foot facility will enable Del Monte to store perishable produce and distribute it seven days a week. Currently, the produce must be loaded onto refrigerated trucks immediately during the three days a week the ships are in port.

“This is a big plus for us,” Del Monte Distribution Director James Dawson said. “By constructing this facility, we can maintain refrigerated produce. The quality will be preserved.”

While bananas top Del Monte’s list of imported produce, the company also imports pineapple and melons. The goods are transported from the port to supermarkets throughout the Southwest.

The Oxnard Harbor District is paying for construction of the $3.8-million project, which is expected to be completed by the end of July.

Del Monte has been located at the port since 1978. The company recently agreed to an eight-year contract with two five-year options.

Del Monte’s refrigerated facility will be the second at the port. Cool Carriers--which distributes Sunkist produce--opened its refrigerated terminal in 1993.