James Drummond Dole (September 27, 1877 – May 20, 1958), also known as the Pineapple King, was a United States industrialist who developed the pineapple industry in Hawaii and established the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Hawaiian Pineapple Company, or HAPCO, was later reorganised to become the present-day Dole Food Company, which now does business in over 90 countries. Its most prized crop continues to be authentic Hawaiian-grown pineapples. Dole was a cousin of Sanford B. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii.
James Dole was born on September 27, 1877 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Dole moved to Honolulu-Hawaii at the age of 22, arriving on November 16, 1899, (then governed by his cousin Sanford, who had led the overthrow of the native queen Liliuokalani) and purchased a 60-acre government homestead in the central plains of the island of Oahu. His 60 acres (240,000 m²) in 1901 eventually grew and Dole constructed a cannery and packing plant in the town of Wahiawa.Soon, yields and popularity of his product proved greater than he expected and Dole built a new cannery and packing plant near Honolulu Harbor. That same year, 1907, Dole purchased magazine advertisements to promote his canned pineapples. He developed the first nationwide consumer ad campaign in the United States and was successful. Demand for Hawaiian pineapple grew even more. In 1922, Dole purchased the island of Lanai and developed it as a vast pineapple plantation. It became the largest plantation in the world with over 200,000 acres (800 km²) devoted exclusively to growing pineapple. Throughout the twentieth century, Lanai produced over seventy-five percent of the world’s pineapple crop, and today bears the nickname of Pineapple Island. Dole also purchased land on the island of Maui.
The tourist attraction known as the Dole Plantation was established in 1950 as a mere fruit stand in the middle of Dole’s original pineapple fields. In 1989, the fruit stand was transformed into a plantation home mounted on what looks like a hill of red dirt, characteristic of Wahiawa. The plantation home became a living museum and historical archive of the life and work of the industrialist. The Plantation also features the world’s largest maze, grown entirely out of native Hawaiian plants.
Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California and is the 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. (Source: Wikipedia)
At the DOLE Plantation on Oahu, Hawaii you can see a large variety of Pineapples from all around the globe. From Thailand, Philippines, Ecuador to native Hawaiian and others.
