Port of San Diego recognizes Dole’s 125th anniversary

The Port of San Diego is celebrating Dole’s 125th anniversary and recognizing the company’s longstanding partnership and contributions to the region’s maritime industry, sustainability efforts, and positive contributions to our local communities. The milestone also coincides with International Pineapple Day.

For 25 years, Dole has been a valued maritime partner at the Port of San Diego, bringing pineapples, bananas and other fruits and veggies into the region. FUN FACT: Every Dole banana and pineapple in grocery stores west of the Rocky Mountains come in through the Port of San Diego.

The company’s regular vessel calls help support the Port’s working waterfront, including jobs for labor unions and stevedores, while also helping attract additional maritime business. Over the years, Dole has partnered with the Port on key environmental initiatives, including early adoption of electric utility tractor rigs, shore power efforts beginning in 2014, and participation in the EPA Clean Ports Grant. In addition to its operational and environmental leadership, Dole has also supported neighborhoods throughout the region through community giving, including school murals, school supplies, and fresh fruit donations.

“Dole has been an important partner to the Port of San Diego for decades, helping strengthen our maritime economy while also advancing innovation and environmental progress on our working waterfront,” said Chair Ann Moore, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. “We are proud to celebrate Dole’s 125th anniversary and recognize the company’s lasting contributions to our region, from supporting good-paying maritime jobs to investing in meaningful community partnerships.”

Founded in 1901 by James Drummond Dole in Wahiawa, Hawaii, the company helped make pineapples more widely available to families in the United States and around the world. Today, Dole continues to focus on innovation, including the recent introduction of its traditionally bred, non-GMO Dole Colada Royale pineapple variety, developed at the company’s oldest pineapple farm in Honduras.

“There’s something incredibly humbling about looking back 125 years and realizing how one man’s vision grew into a global story shared by generations of farmers, families, communities, and pineapple lovers around the world,“ said William Goldfield, director of corporate communications for Dole. “This sense of gratitude certainly extends to the Port of San Diego and the significant role it has played in helping us reach this milestone.”

The Port of San Diego is proud to serve as Dole’s West Coast port of entry and to join in commemorating this milestone anniversary.