How Dole Became N° 1

1850 - 1900

1851: The foundations of Dole Food Company, Inc. are laid as Samuel Castle and Amos Cooke, originally from Boston, set up their trading company in Hawaii.

1899: James Drummond Dole comes to Hawaii, fresh out of Harvard's School of Horticulture & Agriculture.

1900 - 1950

1901: James Dole begins growing pineapples in Wahiawa, on Oahu  Island, Hawaii. He founds the Hawaiian Pineapple Company and starts to make the name of "Hawaii"  synonymous with "pineapple". Dole makes his famous quality pledge: "We have built this company on quality, and quality, and quality".

1907: Dole moves his pineapple cannery to Honolulu and places advertisements in U.S. magazines to promote pineapple – one of the first nationwide consumer advertising campaigns in America.

1911: A Dole engineer, Henry Ginaca, invents a machine that peels, cores and cuts pineapple at the speed of up to 100 pineapples per minute.  The Ginaca is now an industry standard.

1915: Hawaiian Pineapple Company becomes Hawaii's second largest industry.

1932: Castle & Cooke acquires ownership of 21% of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company.

1933: Recognizing the popularity and significance of quality in James Dole's name, the company first stamps "DOLE" on cans of pineapple and pineapple juice.

1950 - 1990

1961: Dole merges with Castle and Cooke and keeps the DOLE brand.

1963: Dole Philippines, the pineapple growing operations in the Philippines, is organized under the name Dolefil.

1964: Castle & Cooke purchases 55% interest in Standard Fruit & Steamship Company, New Orleans, entering the banana business. It later acquires 100%.

1972: Standard Fruit bananas adopt the DOLE® label, replacing the existing Cabana® label.

1973: Castle & Cooke develops two large banana plantations on the coasts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Castle & Cooke banana operations become the leader in the North American market.

1978: DOLE Bananas are launched in Europe.

1978: Castle & Cooke purchases Bud Antle, Inc., a vegetable company, and begins marketing vegetables "from Dole".

1982: The DOLE product range in Europe is extended to include citrus and deciduous fruits.

1986: The DOLE logo is redesigned. The bright yellow sunburst is chosen, signifying freshness, quality, wholesomeness and good-tasting products. The DOLE brand enjoys 98% worldwide recognition.