Dole plc will proudly celebrate 125 years of farming, shipping and selling bananas in the U.S., starting this month with a year-long blitz of contests, partnerships, proclamations, recipes and special appearances by Bobby Banana, the produce company’s mascot.
The event kicked off February 1, with the first of “125 Ways to Be Bananas” — a series of web and social media banana tips and recipes, digital downloads, engagement opportunities and — yes — ways to share banana memories!
The Dole 125th Banana-versary has its own banana memories to share, starting back where it all began in 1899, when three Sicilian brothers and their brother-in-law in New Orleans began importing bananas from Honduras to the U.S., as Standard Fruit. That company would soon begin operating steamships, growing its own fruit and competing for the ice needed to ship the bananas — and Standard Fruit would eventually become part of the Dole Food Co.
Dole’s “banana-versary” landing page will evolve through the year, with new opportunities showing up as the calendar pages turn. In the words of the Dole release on the celebration: “New opportunities to join in on the banana fun will be added throughout the year.”
Opportunities include:
- Banana-focused recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks and smoothies
- Free digital downloads and hands-on DIY activities
- Creation of a Dole Banana Hall of Fame — inductees to include restaurants, people and places who continue to have a lasting appeal on the iconic nature and universal appeal of bananas
- What the release calls “Dole’s largest celebration of April 17’s National Banana Day in its history”
- Opportunities to join in on the Banana-versry conversation and share Dole and banana memories through #DoleBananaVersary.
In addition, to mark the milestone at stores, Dole will offer a series of commemorative Dole 125th Banana-versary stickers to be put on millions of Dole bananas sold across the U.S. and Canada. The celebratory page will also highlight how Dole has worked to help shape a brighter future for the banana and produce industry, consumers and the planet.
