type private industry agribusiness founded june 2 1851 ; 165 years ago 1851 06 02 1 kingdom of hawaii founder samuel northrup castle amos starr cooke headquarters westlake village california u.s. area served global key people david h. murdock chairman 2 products fruit vegetables other food products revenue us 7.2 billion 2011 2 net income 38.4 million 2011 2 number of employees 34 500 2011 3 website www.dole.com dole food company inc. is an american agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in westlake village california . the company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world operating with 74 300 full time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300 products in 90 countries . 4 5 dole markets such food items as bananas pineapples fresh and packaged grapes strawberries salads and other fresh and frozen fruits and juices . dole s chairman founded the dole nutrition institute a nutritional research and education foundation . contents 1 history 2 operations 2.1 management and staff 2.2 products 2.3 corporate headquarters 3 legacy 4 mascot 5 advertising 6 food safety 6.1 2005 e. coli outbreak 6.2 2006 e. coli outbreak 6.3 2007 e. coli recall 6.4 2012 salmonella recall 6.5 june 2012 listeria recall 6.6 august 2012 listeria recall 6.7 2014 listeria recall 6.8 2015 salmonella recall 6.9 2016 listeriosis outbreak 7 criticism and controversies 7.1 legal cases 7.2 hawaiian coup 7.3 labor relations 7.4 labeling of genetically engineered foods in california 8 references 9 external links history edit dole plantation on oahu hawaii . 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 had been president of the republic of hawaii from 1894 after the overthrow of the kingdom of hawaii her last monarch queen lili uokalani and first governor of the territory of hawaii until 1903 . 6 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 remainder of the hawaiian pineapple company and the standard fruit company and renamed the company the dole food company inc in 1991 . castle & cooke inc a real estate company was spun off in 1995 ; it is currently operating as a subsidiary of flexi van leasing inc. dole freighter sailing out of san juan puerto rico it was then the third largest producer and u.s. importer of bananas . dole and chiquita remain the top two u.s. banana companies as of 2011 . in 2011 the company reported 7.2 billion in annual revenue . 2 dole operates plantations throughout central and south america and in the asia pacific region with plantations in the philippines and two packing plants in thailand hua hin and chumphon . 7 as part of a major restructuring in 2012 dole agreed to sell its worldwide packaged foods and asia fresh produce businesses to japanese trading house itochu for 1.7 billion in cash . the transaction paid down a large amount of dole s debt and refocused the company s business on fresh fruit and vegetables . 8 the businesses acquired by itochu continue to use the dole brand and are owned by dole international holdings a tokyo based subsidiary of itochu . 9 in august 2013 dole announced that ceo david murdock would acquire the outstanding stock of the company for 1.2 billion . 10 the sale closed in october 2013 but was challenged by shareholders who argued that the company was undervalued based in part on underestimated cost savings from the 2012 sale of the asia business . in 2015 the delaware chancery court awarded 148 million in damages to the former shareholders on the grounds that murdock and david carter had misled shareholders regarding the finances of the company . 11 dole which had moved its corporate registration from hawaii to delaware in 2001 became an outspoken critic of delaware corporate law as a result of this litigation . 12 operations edit dole is a vertically integrated producer owning plantations in central america . 13 it operates a fleet of 19 container ships 14 that are specially equipped to support refrigerated containers and having its own cranes instead of relying on port infrastructure . management and staff edit as of march 2013 update dole s board of directors consisted of david h. murdock chairman of the board ; c. johan linden president and chief operating officer ; elaine l. chao former u.s. secretary of labor ; andrew j. conrad ; david a. delorenzo ; e. rolland dickson m.d. ; sherry lansing former actress and film studio executive ; justin m. murdock ; and dennis m. weinberg . 15 products edit fresh ripe dole pineapples philippines including the original pineapple dole distributes fresh plant foods in the forms of whole fruits whole vegetables berries and fresh cut vegetables . packaged products include fruit bowls fruit bowls in gel fruit in plastic jars fruit parfaits fruit crisps dates raisins and canned fruits . frozen products include berries tropical fruits and fruit bars . juices are sold chilled frozen or canned . salad products include greens salad kits and shreds . 16 in 1998 dole bought several growers in colombia and became the largest distributor of fresh cut flowers in the us . however by 2008 the flower business was losing money and it was bought in january 2009 by a group of private investors . corporate headquarters edit in 1994 dole announced that it would finalize its plans to build its world headquarters on a 30 acre 120 000 m2 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 . having submitted its plans for final approval by the westlake village city council on february 9 1994 17 dole completed construction and opened its new world headquarters building in may 1999 . legacy edit dole plantation pineapple maze the guinness book of world records 2001 lists the pineapple maze at the dole plantation in oahu hawaii as the world s largest maze . 18 the dole nutrition institute dni was founded by david h. murdock in 2003 to feed the world with knowledge through research and education regarding the health benefits of a plant based diet . mascot edit bobby banana is a mascot of dole food company and the leader of the superkids children who regularly eat five to nine fruits and vegetables every day . 19 he is an anthropomorphic banana who appears in dole comics and games for children along with friends courtney cauliflower mia mango pinellopy pineapple and gavin grape all of whom are also anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables . 20 in 1985 and 1986 the dole banana was featured as the official banana of the pittsburg state university ks gorillas athletic programs . the project was the brainchild of then pitt state radiosports play by play voice scott burton . the introduction of the dole banana as the official banana of the gorillas delighted then athletic director david suenram and pittsburg state university sports fans alike . the head football coach at the time of the promotion was dennis franchione . dole provided company trinkets for fan giveaways and the popularity of the dole banana thrived in southeast kansas and southwest missouri joplin during the promotion s two year run . advertising edit for a number of years the country music artist kenny rogers advertised dole s products on television . he would often be accompanied by this then wife marianne . dole also sponsored several of rogers concert tours . food safety edit 2005 e. coli outbreak edit 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 . 21 2006 e. coli outbreak edit main article 2006 north american e. coli o157 h7 outbreak in spinach in 2006 an 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 . 22 2007 e. coli recall edit in september 2007 random testing conducted by the canadian food inspection agency detected e. coli o157 h7 bacteria in dole s hearts delight packaged salad . the company issued a recall for the product which had been distributed in ontario quebec new brunswick nova scotia and prince edward island in canada and in illinois indiana maine michigan mississippi new york ohio pennsylvania and tennessee in the us . 23 2012 salmonella recall edit in april 2012 random testing by the new york state department of health detected salmonella bacteria in dole s seven lettuces salad . the company issued a recall for the product which had been distributed in alabama florida illinois indiana maryland massachusetts michigan mississippi new york north carolina ohio pennsylvania tennessee virginia and wisconsin . 24 june 2012 listeria recall edit in june 2012 random testing by the north carolina department of health and human services detected listeria monocytogenes the bacteria responsible for listeriosis in dole s marketside leafy romaine salad . the company issued a recall for the product which had been distributed in georgia kentucky north carolina south carolina tennessee and virginia . 24 august 2012 listeria recall edit in august 2012 random testing by the north carolina department of agriculture detected listeria monocytogenes in dole s packaged italian blend salad . the company issued a recall for the product which had been distributed in alabama florida north carolina south carolina pennsylvania maryland mississippi and virginia . 24 2014 listeria recall edit in march 2014 random testing conducted by the canadian food inspection agency detected listeria monocytogenes in dole s packaged italian blend salad . 25 the company issued a recall for its dole italian blend fresh selections italian style blend little salad bar italian salad and marketside italian style salad products . the products had been distributed in ontario quebec and new brunswick in canada and connecticut florida illinois indiana kentucky maryland massachusetts michigan new jersey new york north carolina ohio pennsylvania south carolina and virginia in the us . 26 2015 salmonella recall edit in october 2015 random testing conducted by the michigan department of agriculture and rural development detected salmonella bacteria in a sample of dole s packaged spinach salad . the company issued a recall for the product which had been distributed to connecticut indiana kentucky maryland massachusetts michigan missouri new jersey new york ohio pennsylvania tennessee and wisconsin . 27 2016 listeriosis outbreak edit in january 2016 packaged salads produced by dole at its springfield ohio facility were linked to a multistate outbreak of listeriosis by the centers for disease control and prevention cdc . 28 the outbreak was first detected in july 2015 and led to the hospitalization of 12 people from indiana massachusetts michigan new jersey new york and pennsylvania . 29 the victim from michigan died as a result of the infection . 30 a joint cdc and food and drug administration fda investigation began in september 2015 . in january 2016 testing of a dole field greens packaged salad found the presence of listeria monocytogenes the bacteria responsible for listeriosis . 31 on january 21 2016 dole suspended operations at the