WESTLAKE VILLAGE, California - October 31, 2001

Dole Food Company, Inc. (NYSE: DOL) will issue its news release on its third quarter 2001 results prior to the market opening on Tuesday, November 6, 2001, and will host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. (EST) to discuss the company's results. Hosting the call for the company will be Lawrence A. Kern, president and chief operating officer, and Kenneth J. Kay, vice president and chief financial officer.

The conference call will be webcast live and may be accessed on the company's website at www.dole.com. The call will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. (EST). A webcast audio replay of the conference call will also be archived through 5:00 p.m. (EST), November 16, 2001, on the company's website at www.dole.com.

The webcast will also be distributed over CCBN's Investor Distribution Network to both institutional and individual investors. Individual investors can listen to the call through CCBN's individual investor center at www.companyboardroom.com or by visiting any of the investor sites in CCBN's Individual Investor Network such as America Online's Personal Finance Channel. Institutional investors can access the call via CCBN's password protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com).

Dole Food Company, Inc., with 2000 revenues of approximately $4.8 billion, is the world's largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and fresh-cut flowers, and markets a growing line of packaged foods.