What Dole plc told the SEC could break it.

Dole's results are sensitive to commodity and raw-product costs — explicitly fuel and paper — where inflation or availability changes hurt margins, and increased costs for purchased fruit and vegetables have negatively impacted operating results in the past. As a global shipper of perishable produce, it depends on fuel for its own refrigerated vessels (its commercial cargo business) and on third-party shipping and logistics; disruptions in shipping routes, at ports/terminals, or supply-demand imbalances in inland logistics and ocean freight can raise costs and threaten delivery of perishable product. It may not be able to pass these cost increases through to customers. A genuine commodity/logistics input dependence; suppliers unnamed, so a risk rather than an edge. Severity medium.

“Increases in commodity or raw product costs, such as fuel and paper, due to inflation or otherwise, or changes to their availability, could adversely affect our operating results.”

Dole's vertically integrated Fresh Fruit business sources bananas, pineapples and plantains from Dole-owned and leased farms and from independent growers primarily located in Latin America (Costa Rica, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and others), with roughly one-third of marketed bananas and 75% of pineapples from its own production. This geographic concentration exposes Dole to region-specific shocks: hurricanes, floods and drought; crop disease (notably Fusarium TR4 / Panama disease and Black Sigatoka in bananas); labor unrest (~25% of employees are under collective bargaining); local-currency volatility (Costa Rican colón, Honduran lempira, Chilean peso); and political/port disruption (it is also selling its Guayaquil, Ecuador port operations). A disruption to Latin American growing or logistics would hit supply and cost of its core fruit. A distinctive agricultural geographic concentration. Severity medium.

“We source these products from both Dole-owned and leased farms, as well as from independent growers, primarily located in Latin America. Approximately one-third of the bananas we market and 75% of our pineapples are sourced from our own production.”

Because Dole operates an owned refrigerated shipping fleet and ships produce to/from EU ports, it is subject to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) extension to the maritime industry. The requirement phases in — Dole had to purchase carbon allowances covering 40% of in-scope emissions in 2024, rising to 70% in 2025 and 100% in 2026 and thereafter (covering 100% of intra-EU voyages and 50% of voyages with one EU endpoint) — and it states the ETS has already had an adverse impact on operating results. Broader GHG/climate regulation in the U.S., EU, Canada and elsewhere could add further compliance costs that it may not pass through to customers. A specific, quantified, escalating climate-policy cost on its core shipping operations. Severity medium.

“The ETS for the maritime industry is phased-in, whereby we were required to purchase allowances for 40% of our emissions in scope in 2024 and rising to 70% in 2025 and 100% in 2026 and thereafter.”