Oct 2, 2024

Dole prepares for new organic fruit demand from Gen Y & Z

Dole Food Co. is working to attract younger generations to the organic produce segment.

Dole , one of the first global fruit and vegetable providers to predict the first organic food craze in 2000, is anticipating a wave of organic demand from Gen Y, Gen Z and Baby Boomers and emerging organic growth markets across the U.S.

25 years after the first organic craze, Dole is launching a second wave of aggressive organic marketing — including digital advertising, social media and in-store/POS tactics — in more than a dozen U.S. cities to attract a new generation of organic converts.

The campaigns launched in early September, in honor of September’s National Organic Month, and continue through October.

Dole’s initial focus is on fresh bananas and pineapples, signature products for the company and among the most-purchased items in U.S. supermarkets, according to a news release.

Dole grows and markets a variety of fruit and vegetables, including bananas, pineapples, apricots, avocados, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, cherries, citrus, mangoes, papaya, pears, peaches, nectarines and strawberries.

Dole is specifically targeting Gen Y, Gen Z and Baby Boomer consumers in more than a dozen U.S. markets identified by Dole for expanded organic marketing efforts due to above-average indexing in organic consumption.

Dole is working with key national and regional retailers to launch a series of social and digital trade and consumer programs touting Dole’s 25 years of growing organic produce and developing retail programs that communicate the health, sustainability and fair trade benefits of organic bananas and pineapples.

Dole is focusing its efforts on current and emerging organic shoppers in cities that have shown the highest propensity to purchase as well as recent demographic changes leading to shifting organic fresh fruit and vegetable buying and consumption habits across the country, according to the release.

Dole was one of the world’s first produce providers in 2000 to offer organic bananas and pineapples at scale and has remained the industry’s top organic grower, distributor and marketer of the two signature fruit varieties ever since, according to the release.

“We successfully predicted the initial demand of organic consumers almost 25 years ago and are anticipating another season of growth from a new generation of shoppers attracted to not only the health advantages but also the distinct environmental benefits associated with organic including soil fertility, enhanced biodiversity and sustainable land management,” William Goldfield, Dole’s director of corporate communications, said in the release.

According to Goldfield, Dole’s expanded organic produce outreach efforts reflect consumers’ constantly evolving expectations.

“More than ever, today’s shoppers possess a growing interest in natural foods. They want the brands they buy to align with their values on everything from climate mitigation and social issues to health and wellness, and food security and safety,” Goldfield said in the release. “Expanding our organic and fair trade messaging has become essential to engaging the now-sizable percentage of socially and environmentally conscious shoppers who continue to fuel growth in fresh produce – not just in emerging organic markets but nationally and even globally.”