Dole Food Company is a food processing and distributing company specializing in fresh and packaged fruits and vegetables. The company is based in California in the USA.
History
Dole Food Company was founded in 1851 in Hawaii by 2 missionaries, Amos Starr Cooke and Samuel Northrup Castle. The first name of the company was Castle and Cooke. The company expanded its business rapidly and tried its luck in the seafood industry, refined sugar manufacturing, road and railway construction and shipping.
The Hawaiian Pineapple Company was founded in 1901 on the Hawaiian island of Oahu by James Dole. At that time, Hawaii had not become a state and one of the cousins of James Dole, Sanford Dole, was the President of the Republic of Hawaii and governor of the Territory of Hawaii. James Dole expanded his business to the U.S. within a few years.
In 1932, Castle and Cook Company acquired 21% of James Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company. By 1960, Castle and Cook bought the entire Hawaiian Pineapple Company, and also purchased the Standard Fruit Company. In 1961, it acquired Bumble Bee foods, but later sold it 1985. In 1991 the name of the company was changed from Castle and Cook to Dole Food Company.
In May 1999, Westlake Village in California became its headquarters. Dole Foods Company is the biggest producers of organic bananas. They are the world’s biggest marketer and producer of quality fresh vegetables and fruit and also have a growing business in frozen foods. By 2009, the sales of the company peaked at $6.8 billion. It also went public, with the symbol DOLE. Today, the company has plantations in South America, Philippines and Central America. It also has a plant for packaging in Thailand.
The company also produces fruit drinks, which are distributed by PepsiCo. In 2001, a pineapple maze in Hawaii got the title of world’s biggest maze from Guinness Book of World Records. In 2003, the Dole Nutrition Institute was opened to further research on nutrition education.
In addition, Dole maintains its own shipping fleet and offers shipping services with over 70,000 container units. They maintain a sailing schedule that visits six ports, including the Mediterranean and Belgium. Dole also offers air cargo to 21 countries.
Stats
Company Headquarters: Westlake Village, CA, USA
Ownership: Public
Annual Revenue: $6.8 billion (2010 figures)
No of Employees: 36,000 full time employees and 23,000 temporary employees
Geography: 90 countries
Demography: Young, Natural and Organic
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Dole Food Company
Dole Ocean Cargo
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