Dole plc
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| File:Dolelogo.png | |
| Company type | public (NYSE: DOLE) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Produce |
| Founded | 1851[1] as Castle & Cooke |
| Founder | James Dole |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | David H. Murdock Chairman[2] |
| Products | Fruit Vegetables Other food products |
| Revenue | US $7.7324 billion (2008)[3] |
| 121.0 million (2008)[3] | |
Number of employees | 40,900 (2009)[4] |
| Website | http://www.dole.com |
Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California and is a leading grower and packer of such food items as bananas, pineapples (fresh and packaged), grapes, strawberries, and other fresh and frozen fruits. It is a leader in ready-to-eat packaged salads and other vegetables.
History
The company traces its origin to the 1851 establishment of Castle & Cooke by missionaries Samuel Northrup Castle and Amos Starr Cooke. Castle & Cooke rapidly became one of the largest companies in Hawaii, investing in shipping, railroad construction, sugar production, and seafood packing. The other half of Dole's corporate heritage, The Hawaiian Pineapple Company, was founded in 1901 by James Dole, who opened his first pineapple plantation in the central plateau of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Sanford Dole, the cousin of James Dole, had been president of the Republic of Hawaii from 1894 after the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii (her last monarch, Queen Liliʻuokalani), and first governor of the Territory of Hawaii until 1903.[5] The annexation of Hawaii to the United States made selling agricultural products to the mainland much more profitable, since they would never be subject to import tariffs.
In 1932 Castle & Cooke purchased a 21% interest in the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. In the 1960s Castle & Cooke acquired the Hawaiian Pineapple Company and the Standard Fruit Company and renamed the company "The Dole Food Company, Inc" in 1991. Castle & Cook also owned Bumble Bee Foods from 1961 to 1985.
It was then the U.S.'s second largest producer and importer of bananas. Dole and Chiquita remain the top two U.S. banana companies.
Today the company does business in over 90 countries and takes in upwards of $7.7 billion in annual revenue. It is owned by billionaire David H. Murdock.
Castle & Cooke Inc, a real estate company, was spun off in 1995; it is currently a separate company but is also owned by Murdock.
Dole also has a plantation in the Philippines and a packing plant in Thailand.[citation needed] PepsiCo distributes Dole's Single Serving Juices.[6]
Legacy
The Guinness Book of World Records (2001) lists the pineapple maze at the Dole Plantation in Oahu, Hawaii as the world's largest maze.[7]
The Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI) was founded by David H. Murdock to “Feed the World with Knowledge” through research and education regarding the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
Mascot
Bobby Banana is a mascot of Dole Food Company. He is an anthropomorphic banana character, who appears in print as well as (at one time) foam incarnations.
Food safety
In 2005, 23 people in Minnesota were sickened with E. coli O157:H7. The source of the bacteria was found to be Dole brand bagged lettuce.[8] Then in 2006, another E. coli outbreak that caused over 200 people to become ill and killed 3 more was linked to bagged spinach sold by Dole. The spinach was processed by Natural Selection Foods in California.[9]
Corporate headquarters
In 1994 Dole announced that it would finalize its plans to build its world headquarters on a 30 acre site owned by the company, located north of the Ventura Freeway in Westlake Village, California. The decision had been delayed by groundwater contamination tests and reviewing of possible site plan revisions. Dole was expected to submit its plans for final approval by the Westlake Village City Council on February 9, 1994.[10]
Criticism
Dole Food Company is among three major fruit companies cited for exploiting workers in developing nations.[11] The company is named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of 73 heirs of victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia.[12]
In 2007, Nicaraguan plantation workers with Juan Dominguez as the lawyer representing them sued Dole claiming the use of illegal pesticides like Nemagon had made them sterile and over general mistreatment. The suit and two others were subsequently thrown out by California courts after it was concluded that “[c]ontrary to their sworn testimony, most of the plaintiffs never worked on Dole-affiliated banana farms and none were involved in the DBCP application process”, while other lawsuits are pending in U.S. and Nicaraguan courts.[13]
Swedish director Fredrik Gertten made a documentary film about Dominguez and the alleged banana workers. The movie Bananas!* premiered in the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, with Dole threatening to sue the festival if they allowed it to participate in the documentary film competition.[14][15][16][17] Although the film was screened with a disclaimer from the festival, Gertten was subsequently sued for defamation by Dole.[18]
Percy Bratt, the chairman of Civil Rights Defenders has commented Dole's suit in Swedish press, and stated that the suit violates both the European Convention on Human Rights as well as Swedish law. The lawsuit was dropped by Dole before hearings.[19]
References
- ^ Dole: Company History (Retrieved November 29, 2007)
- ^ Hoover's: Dole Food Company, Inc. Factsheet (Retrieved November 29, 2007)
- ^ a b Fortune 500 2009: Top 1000 American Companies - Dole Food
- ^ Dole Food Company Inc.: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek
- ^ "Dole, Sanford Ballard office record". state archives digital collections. state of Hawaii. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ "Sierra Mist". Retrieved 2008-08-22.
Pepsi-Cola North America, the refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo, Inc., in the United States and Canada. Its U.S. brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Sierra Mist, IZZE, SoBe, Mug, Tava, Tropicana Twister Soda, Tropicana Juice Drinks, Dole and Ocean Spray single-serve juices. The company also makes and markets North America's best-selling ready-to-drink iced teas and coffees, respectively, via joint ventures with Lipton and Starbucks.
- ^ "Dole Plantation - Hawaii's Complete Pineapple Experience - Maze". Dole Plantation, Inc. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ Minnesota finds E. coli in lettuce bags
- ^ E. coli found in water, wild pig near California spinach farm
- ^ "[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-15125418.html Dole gets ready to turn first shovel of headquarters dirt: plans are set to go to Westlake Village City Council. (Dole Food Co. Inc.)]" Los Angeles Business Journal. January 31, 1994. Retrieved on September 27, 2009.
- ^ Anup Shah (January 3, 2010). "The Banana Trade War". Global Issues Blog. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ "Juana Perez 1-51/Juan Perez 5E-50 v. Dold Food Company, Inc". Cases. International Rights Advocates. April 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aS5ED.ApmVPk
- ^ http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20070526180957195
- ^ http://www.bananasthemovie.com/interview-with-director-fredrik-gertten/
- ^ http://svt.se/2.33782/1.1591791/bananas_far_inte_tavla_pa_festival
- ^ "About the film".
{{cite web}}: Text "BANANAS!*" ignored (help) 11 June 2009 - bananasthemovie.com - ^ Linda Deutsch (July 8, 2009). "Dole sues `Bananas!' filmmaker, alleges defamation". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ ""Bananas!*" och Dole: "Dole gör en slags ekonomisk fatwa"". DN.se (Swedish). January 21, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
External links
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