Dole's Banana Food Truck Sets Off on 4,800-Mile Tour

The Peel the Love Summer Food Truck Tour has hit the road in on a 4,800-mile summer quest to reacquaint Americans with the fun, whimsy and irreverence of bananas – and get them to eat more fruits and veggies. Organized by DOLE Bananas, the 102-day trek officially left downtown Seattle on May 25 to spread its message of better nutrition to healthy-eating fans in eight banana-loving cities. The pink-and-turquoise Peel the Love truck will stop at supermarkets, public events and other venues to offer tastes of the latest banana recipes, recipe cards, product samples and other free giveaways. Healthy-eating experts will also lead nutritional rallies, games and contests at after-school centers and other nonprofits in select Tour cities. Co-sponsoring the trip are Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almondmilk and Dole Packaged Foods featuring DOLE Fruit Bowl and DOLE Squish’ems. The eight visited cities – Seattle; Sacramento, Calif.; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Houston; Des Moines, Iowa; Baltimore/Washington, D.C. and New York City – enjoy significantly higher per-capita  banana consumption than the national average.  The dates of these visits are:

The Tour is targeting health-, fitness- and lifestyle-oriented consumers and partnering with retailers to suggest new serving, pairing and entertaining options. Both brands are also reaching out to registered dieticians (RDs), supermarket nutritionists, food bloggers and other influentials about the health, taste and convenience advantages of bananas, almonds and almond milk. The new recipes that will be available for sampling range from Banana Pineapple Coconut Smoothies and Thai Noodle Salad with Banana Peanut Dressing to Banana Pudding Pops, DOLE Banana S’mores, Dole Grilled Bananas and Chocolate Monkeys. Some combine DOLE Bananas with Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almondmilk. Walk-up visitors to the Peel the Love Food Truck will be able to take home a host of other free surprises including recipe cards for easy-to-make foods and snacks; Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almondmilk, DOLE Fruit Bowls and DOLE Squish’ems product samples; banana-themed coloring books, T-shirts, hats and other promotional items; and discount coupons and brochures. In addition, oversized video screens on the truck will showcase a variety of fun educational videos showing the journey of bananas from the field to the store. “After months of planning, we’re excited to finally be hitting the road to take our message that bananas and nutrition can be fun to cities from coast to coast,” says Bil Goldfield, communications manager of Dole Fresh Fruit. “We’ll be bringing free samples, coupons and compelling new recipes to banana lovers at public events, nonprofit agencies and some of the most popular supermarkets in America.” The Tour is part of DOLE Bananas Peel the Love, a bold, year-long initiative stressing the fun, versatility, irreverence and universally beloved aspects of the world’s most popular fruit. In addition to showcasing new recipes and serving suggestions, Dole will implement exciting new ways to outreach to the more than 600,000 DOLE Banana, 800,000 Dole Packaged Foods and 122,000 Blue Diamond Almond Breeze social media fans. “The Peel the Love Food Truck Tour is a perfect fit for healthy-eating brands like Dole and Blue Diamond,” says Suzanne Hagener, senior marketing manager of Blue Diamond Almond Breeze. “Now, instead of just reading about healthy summer eating, families from Seattle to New York City can see firsthand just how simple and healthy summertime cooking and entertaining can be.”