SEVERANCE PAY PLAN FOR EMPLOYEES OF DOLE FOOD COMPANY, INC.

Exhibit 10.9

SEVERANCE PAY PLAN FOR EMPLOYEES OF

DOLE FOOD COMPANY, INC.

AND PARTICIPATING DIVISIONS AND
SUBSIDIARIES

Effective January 1, 2006

SEVERANCE PAY PLAN FOR EMPLOYEES OF
DOLE FOOD COMPANY, INC.
AND PARTICIPATING DIVISIONS AND SUBSIDIARIES

This Severance Pay Plan for Employees of Dole Food Company, Inc. and Participating Divisions and Subsidiaries (the “Plan”) is an employee welfare benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(1) of ERISA, which is designed to provide payments upon severance to certain employees of Dole Food Company, Inc. and its participating divisions and subsidiaries.

This Plan is hereby amended and restated in its entirety, pursuant to section 5.1 of Plan, effective January 1, 2006.

ARTICLE I — TITLES AND DEFINITIONS

1.1 Title.

This Plan shall be known as the “Severance Pay Plan for Employees of Dole Food Company, Inc. and Participating Divisions and Subsidiaries.”

1.2 Definitions.

Whenever the following terms are used in this Plan, with the first letter capitalized, they shall have the meanings specified below.

“Administrator” shall mean the Welfare Plan Committee, as set forth in Article IV.

“Base Compensation” shall mean an Eligible Employee’s annualized gross base salary in effect his or her Severance Date excluding any overtime, bonuses or other supplemental compensation.

“Code” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time.

“Compensation Committee” shall mean the Corporate Compensation and Benefits Committee, or its delegate.

“Company” shall mean Dole Food Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation, or any successor corporation resulting from merger, consolidation, or transfer of assets substantially as a whole, which shall expressly agree in writing to continue the Plan as herein provided.

“Comparable Position” shall mean, for any Eligible Employee, any position which satisfies the following criteria:

(a) The wages are, in the aggregate, greater than 80% of the Base Compensation enjoyed by the Eligible Employee at the time the position is offered, even if other benefits are materially reduced or eliminated;

(b) The position is at a location which is less than 50 miles farther from the Eligible Employee’s residence than his or her former place of work; and

(c) The position is offered to the Eligible Employee no later than 30 days prior to his or her Severance Date.

“Eligible Employee” shall mean an individual who is employed by an Employer and classified by such Employer as a regular, Full-time, exempt or non-exempt salaried employee on its United States payroll. Eligible Employee shall not include any employee who is (i) a non-resident alien receiving no United States source income, or (ii) covered by a collective bargaining agreement (unless eligibility under this Plan has specifically been extended to such employee through the collective bargaining agreement). Except as otherwise provided in a written agreement between the Eligible Employee and the Company, in order to qualify for a Severance Pay Benefit, an Eligible Employee must satisfy the eligibility requirements set forth in section 2.1.

“Employer” shall mean the Company and any participating subsidiary or division of the Company listed in Appendix A.

“Employment Commencement Date” shall mean the date on which an Eligible Employee first performs an hour of service for an Employer, except as follows:

(a) If an Eligible Employee first performs an hour of service for an entity prior to the date on which such entity becomes acquired by or affiliated with the Company, the employee’s Employment Commencement Date shall be the date on which such entity becomes acquired by or affiliated with the Company, except in the following cases:

(i) This paragraph (i) shall apply only to employees of Pacific Holding Company and its subsidiaries (“Pacific”). If a Pacific entity became affiliated with the Company prior to December 31, 1983, an Eligible

Employee’s Employment Commencement Date will be his or her date of hire with the Pacific entity. If a Pacific entity first became affiliated with the Company on or after January 1, 1984, an Eligible Employee’s Employment Commencement Date will be the later of his or her date of hire with the Pacific entity or the date on which the entity became affiliated with the Company.

(ii) If an Eligible Employee was employed by Blue Goose Growers on April 14, 1984, an Eligible Employee’s Employment Commencement Date will be April 14, 1984.

(iii) If an Eligible Employee was employed by Dole Fresh Flowers, Inc. on July 1, 1999, his or her Employment Commencement Date will be his or her date of hire with Finesse Farms East, Inc., Finesse Farms West, Inc., Four Farmers, Inc., Columbia Carnations, Inc., Sunburst Farms, Inc. or Sunpetals, Inc., whichever is applicable.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, including subsection (a) above, if an Eligible Employee has a break in service during which he or she is not employed by an Employer, the Eligible Employee’s most recent date of hire with an Employer shall be the employee’s applicable Employment Commencement Date.

“ERISA” shall mean the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time.

“Full-time” shall mean, for any employee, “full-time” status as determined or defined by the employee’s Employer. In the absence of such a determination or definition, “full-time” shall mean working 40 or more hours per week on a regular basis.

“Plan” shall mean the Severance Pay Plan for Employees of Dole Food Company, Inc. and Participating Divisions and Subsidiaries as set forth herein, now in effect or hereafter amended.

“Service” shall mean a period of continuous, salaried employment beginning with an Eligible Employee’s Employment Commencement Date and ending with his or her applicable Severance Date.

“Severance Date” shall mean the date the Eligible Employee ceases to be an employee of any Employer.

“Severance Pay Benefit” shall mean the benefit payable pursuant to Section 3.1, except as otherwise provided in a written agreement between the Eligible Employee and the Company.

“Weekly Base Compensation” shall mean the Eligible Employee’s Base Compensation

divided by 52.

“Year of Service” shall mean a continuous, full year of Service as an Eligible Employee.

ARTICLE II — ELIGIBILITY

2.1 Eligibility Requirements.

(a) An Eligible Employee shall be eligible for a Severance Pay Benefit if the Administrator, pursuant to its powers and duties under Section 4.1, determines that his or her employment with an Employer is involuntarily terminated as a result of a workforce reduction, elimination of operations, or job elimination.

(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Eligible Employee shall not be entitled to any Severance Pay Benefit if the Eligible Employee:

(i) continues to be employed for any period of time, or

(ii) is offered, but does not accept, a Comparable Position

with an Employer or an entity that acquires part or all of the assets or operations of an Employer, whether by merger, stock or asset transfer, or other means.

(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Eligible Employee shall be entitled to a Severance Pay Benefit only if the employee executes and delivers a valid release, as developed by the Company, of all claims against the Company, any Employer, or any employees, directors, or agents of the Company or any Employer, and the employee does not revoke such release agreement within the time period required by law for the revocation of a release.

(d) An Eligible Employee shall not be entitled to a Severance Pay Benefit if his or her employment with an Employer is terminated, voluntarily or involuntarily, for any reason other than as set forth in subsection (a) above, including but not limited to retirement, disability, discharge by the Employer with or without cause, or death.

ARTICLE III — BENEFITS PAYABLE UNDER THE PLAN

3.1 Severance Pay Benefits Payable Under The Plan.

(a) The Severance Pay Benefit payable to an Eligible Employee shall be determined based on the Eligible Employee’s continuous Service with his or her Employer or

Employers. Except as otherwise provided below, the Severance Pay Benefit shall equal an amount of Weekly Base Compensation determined according to the following schedule:

(b) For purposes of computing an Eligible Employee’s Severance Pay Benefit, incomplete Years of Service shall be pro-rated at .833 days per full month of employment completed during such Year of Service. If an employee does not work a full month, he or she will not be given credit for a full month unless he or she works more than 15 calendar days in that month; otherwise, no credit shall be given for incomplete or partial months.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 3.1(a) or (b), if an Eligible Employee was employed by Blue Goose Growers prior to April 14, 1984, he or she shall receive Severance Pay Benefits for periods of service during the period from October 1, 1979 through April 14, 1984 at a rate of five (5) days per Year of Service, provided that such Eligible Employee did not incur a break in service between such period of service and the applicable Severance Date during which he or she was not employed by an Employer. For purposes of this Section 3.1(c), incomplete years shall be pro-rated at .4166 days per full month of employment completed during such Year of Service. Incomplete months shall be rounded up or down to the nearest month.

(d) An Eligible Employee who satisfies the requirements of Section 2.1(a) above shall receive at least two weeks’ notice of termination. In the event an Eligible Employee does not receive such notice, the Eligible Employee shall receive an additional Severance Pay Benefit equal to two weeks of his or her Weekly Base Compensation.

(e) In no event shall the Severance Pay Benefit of any Eligible Employee exceed either of the following:

(i) an amount equal to a total of 104 weeks of Weekly Base Compensation, including any amount received under subsection 3.1(a), (c), and/or (d); or

(ii) an amount equal to twice the Eligible Employee’s total compensation (including wages, salary, and any other benefit of monetary value) during the twelve-month period immediately preceding his or her termination of service.

(f) Severance Pay Benefits paid under this Plan to an Eligible Employee shall be reduced by the amount paid to the Eligible Employee under any United States or foreign statute, law, or regulation which requires a formal notice period, pay in lieu of notice (other than

pursuant to subsection (d) above), ter