Talk:Dole plc

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Key people update

Hi editors, my name is William and I work for Dole plc. I'm hoping to make some updates to the article and wanted to start by updating the Key people in the infobox, as that is a bit outdated since our merger with Total Produce. Dole's CEO is Rory Byrne, its executive chairman is Carl McCann, and its COO is Johan Linden. That's covered in this article. I also made a citation to ease things along. Is it possible for someone to make that update? I won't make any changes myself due to my conflict of interest. Thanks in advance for your consideration. 14:15, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

References

WG at Dole (talk) 14:15, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

 Done - please check this edit for accuracy and current status. Is there any WP:RS source giving the corporate involvement (if still applicable) and life status of David Murdock? Zefr (talk) 17:39, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

I did find this Reuters report, indicating that Murdock - at age 98 in 2021 when the Total Produce merger occurred - holds no corporate or board position in the new company. This 2021 SEC filing for Dole plc shows that Murdock has nearly 12 million common shares of the company owned through his controlled interests in a family trust, a family group, and Castle & Cooke for which Murdock is the principal owner. Zefr (talk) 18:15, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr:, thanks so much for the quick response. The edits to the key people look good. However, some of the product line is not correct. Dole sold its packaged food division, which includes juices manufactured by Pepsico and frozen fruits, to Itochu in 2012. That's covered in this Reuters article and this Wall Street Journal article. Those products still use the Dole brand, but are not produced by Dole plc.

I'm putting the final touches on a draft I hope to upload soon of the article that has up-to-date product information, as well as some updated information about the merger with Total Produce, sale of the packaged foods division, and sourcing with updated financial, employment, and asset numbers based on Dole's SEC filings, which I believe are a bit more detailed than the Yahoo! profile. I'm just going to try to figure out how to upload our new logo (it's the one with the green outline on this site you added: https://www.doleplc.com/about/our-commercial-strengths) then it will be ready. Because it's a long draft, I'll keep making smaller requests once it's uploaded.

As for the status of David Murdock with the company, I haven't come across anything superior to that Reuters article you posted. This article from the Independent Tribune mentions a new building built by Murdock and his role with Castle & Cooke, omitting anything with Dole, but I think it's a press release and even if not, I'm still not sure it really answers your question. He does not hold any corporate/board responsibilities now that the merger has finished as the Reuters report indicated.

I hope that is helpful, and thank you again for taking a look at this request! I'll be back soon to update the logo and upload the draft. WG at Dole (talk) 17:48, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

References

Logo update

Hello editors. I'm William and I work for Dole. I was hoping to update the logo in the infobox to the most recent one. I believe I have uploaded everything correctly. The file name is File:Dole Foods Logo Green Leaf with Shadow 2018.png. Please let me know if you have any questions. I won't make this change myself due to my conflict of interest. @Zefr:, you've been so helpful in reviewing my requests, would you consider taking a look at this as well? I'd really appreciate it. WG at Dole (talk) 17:40, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

WG at Dole - the file is not present in Wikimedia Commons where licensed images have to be cleared. When I reviewed the file and clicked on "Export to Wikimedia Commons", the following error message appeared: This file cannot be transferred to Wikimedia Commons, because it is not marked with a compatible licence. Wikimedia Commons does not allow such files. This might be resolvable, but most probably means the file is not compatible. Please consult the Wikimedia Commons community policy and talk pages about licensing. You can use your Wikipedia username to enter Commons, and follow the upload wizard and "release rights" procedure, here. Zefr (talk) 18:11, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: Thanks for replying. I was under the impression that logos should be uploaded directly to Wikipedia for fair use since they are non-free content. Additionally, there is this licensiging tutorial that says Wikimedia Commons cannot accept logos. WG at Dole (talk) 20:31, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

WG at Dole - perhaps you could review WP:LOGO for any issues, and - if all is clear - you could upload it yourself, recognizing that "if challenged, it is the responsibility of those who wish to include the logo to prove that its use meets Wikipedia non-free content criteria." Zefr (talk) 03:40, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: I certainly appreciate your caution with this, it's something I was concerned about too. That said, I am confident that uploading the logo directly to Wikipedia is the appropriate way to do things and that its usage meets the standards of Fair Use and other requirements of WP:LOGO. However, because of my conflict of interest, I do not want to make the change myself, as I understand that even simple changes like that can cause problems for conflict of interest editors. So to that end, I have reuploaded the logo as it was deleted and pinged @Connormah: as they uploaded the last logo to get their thoughts. Thanks for your thoughts here Zefr and adherence to making sure it is done the right way! I definitely want to make sure I'm following the rules and I really appreciate the way you've talked through this and provided these policy pages. I hope we can continue working together on improvements to the page! WG at Dole (talk) 21:06, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

@WG at Dole: - The appropriate place to upload the logo would indeed be here on Wikipedia. If you have a vector version that can be uploaded over the existing logo, I'd be certainly happy to do that and the housekeeping work associated with it. Connormah (talk) 05:02, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

@Connormah: thanks for being willing to help with it! I'm not an expert so I appreciate the time. I was able to track down a new logo in the SVG format and created a new file as I could not upload it over the old one. That new file can be located here here. Please let me know if there's anything else you need from me to make the update and thank you again for your help! WG at Dole (talk) 21:37, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

@WG at Dole:, thanks, that is great! I have replaced the logo in the article and will go about deleting the old version per the WP:NFCC. Connormah (talk) 14:25, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

@Connormah: Thanks so much for your help! WG at Dole (talk) 20:31, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

Company overview section

Hello editors, I've got another request to make of the article as I hope to keep proposing updates and improvements to it. I've noticed on other company articles that many of them have Company overview sections that provide basic operational details near the top of the article. I know this article currently has an Operations section (and thank you @Zefr: for your help in updating the leadership there!), but I was wondering what editors thought about replacing that with a Company overview section and moving it up in the article?

I noticed the current section also has some unsourced content, so I tried to make updates to it and shrink it down a bit (and found this cool "collapse" thing!).

Extended content

I think the revised lede today covers the general article content, and the infobox is sufficient for details that are probably not useful to the general user. See WP:LEAD. There are a few inconsistencies of details between the non-Dole sources and About from the corporate website dated 2022. Without specific checking, I sense some of the sources could be consolidated, so will refer to WG at Dole to guide on how these can be represented. Zefr (talk) 00:03, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: thank you for making those updates to the lead! I agree that your changes do a good job of summarizing the article with up-to-date information. As for consolidating the sources, I think the easiest way would be to use the SEC Form 20-F. I've seen lots of SEC forms used on Wikipedia for basic information and reporting requirements for this sort of report are strict, so hopefully it can be used to support this lead more.

The SEC form includes such information as:

• 38,500 employees (p. 25)
• more than 300 products (p. 28)
• Distribution in more than 75 countries (p.28; lead currently says 90, though I have not been able to locate a recent source that says the same)
• Net revenue of $6.45bn in 2021 (p.38)
• Approximately 250 global facilities (p.24)
• 13 ships (p.24)
• 114,000 acres of land (p. 24; lead currently says 109,000 which is production acreage, but Dole actually owns slightly more)
• Four segments of business operations (p. 25), though this does not show the revenue percentage the segments account for as the Dole website does.

There's also a small tweak I'd like to make about Dole Ocean Cargo Express. The 13 ships aren't operated by Dole Ocean Cargo Express. Rather, Dole Ocean Cargo Express fills the ships with third-party cargo that is going to Latin America, and Dole Tropical Products loads the ships with produce coming to the US and EU. Sourcing is pretty limited on this, unfortunately. The best source I could find on it is this one from the Laker/Lutz News, though that article refers to the produce division as "Dole Fresh Fruits." Could we update the lead to reflect that? I have a suggestion below.

I'd also note that I don't think it's accurate to say that Dole is an American-Irish company. After the merger with Total Produce last year, the company's main headquarters moved to Ireland, and though it got its start in and maintains a presence in the United States, including a headquarters in North Carolina, the company is now wholly Irish in terms of its incorporation as Dole plc. Most sources refer to the company now as an Irish or Ireland-based company, like Bloomberg ("The Dublin-based company, created through a merger between Dole Food Co. and its Irish peer Total Produce"); Irish Times("as peers of the new Irish company being listed have seen their share price decline in recent weeks."); and the Charlotte Business Journal ("The company to be created, Dole plc, will keep its global headquarters in Dublin and its headquarters for the Americas in Charlotte.")

As a final note on the introduction, while it's true that there are Dole-branded juices produced by Pepsico, I'm wondering if that information isn't more appropriate in the Itochu article as that is part of the Dole Packaged Foods division sold to Itochu about a decade ago.

So, with all that in mind, a source-condensed version of the lead might look something like this:

Extended content

Dole plc (previously named Dole Food Company, Standard Fruit Company) is an Irish agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is among the world's largest producers of fruit and vegetables, operating with 38,500 full-time and seasonal employees who supply more than 300 products in 75 countries. Dole reported 2021 revenues of $6.5 billion. As of 2021, the company had approximately 250 processing plants and distribution centers worldwide in addition to 109,000 acres (44,000 ha) of farmland and real estate. The company operates through four segments: Fresh Fruit (bananas and pineapples; about 35% of 2020 revenues); Diversified Fresh Produce in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Diversified Fresh Produce in the Americas and other world regions (combined 37% of 2020 revenues); and Fresh Vegetables (29% of 2020 revenues). Dole grows and markets bananas, pineapples, grapes, berries, deciduous and citrus fruits, and vegetable salads. Dole operates 13 cargo vessels for importing its produce and exporting third-party goods to Latin America. References

Please let me know what you think! I'm happy to leave the Operations section where it is, but there are still a couple of things in it I would like to update based on the lead and sourcing (for example, the Headquarters is largely out of date and irrelevant now). I'll make a different post about that once the lead is buttoned up though just so this doesn't get too long. Thanks for your attention on this Zefr! WG at Dole (talk) 20:03, 13 October 2022 (UTC)

WG - I used most of your draft, retaining the Yahoo source as easier to navigate for the typical user and the Pepsi collaboration for beverage product identity. Zefr (talk) 23:09, 13 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: That looks good to me. Thanks for all the attention you've paid to this. WG at Dole (talk) 22:47, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

Company overview

A Dole Ocean Cargo Express ship sets sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Dole plc is the largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables in the world. As of 2021, the company had approximately 250 processing plants and distribution centres worldwide in addition to 114,000 acres (46,000 ha) of farmland and real estate. That year, Dole employed approximately 38,500 people globally and reported revenues of $6.454 billion. After the merger of Total Produce and the Dole Food Company in 2021, Rory Byrne serves as chief executive officer, Carl McCann serves as executive chairman, and Johan Lindén serves as chief operating officer. The company's global headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, and it maintains a headquarters for the Americas in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to its fruit and vegetable divisions, Dole owns a fleet of 13 cargo ships through its logistics division, Dole Ocean Cargo Express.

References

|}

I think that this proposed paragraph improves the sourcing for that section and helps make the article more accurate by using the most up to date information I could find. I've also got some updates I'd like to propose to the infobox, and the changes here will support making those changes later. Please let me know what you think about adding something like what I've proposed to the article. If any editors are interested in what I hope to achieve with the article, I made a draft, which can be found here.

I want to make sure that I follow all the rules so I won't make any changes myself due to my conflict of interest. Thanks in advance for your consideration! WG at Dole (talk) 20:31, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

History update

Hello editors, I've got another request to make, this time for the History section. I understand that Dole has a complex history, but I believe in my draft, which can be found here, I have captured the nuance of that history and added some important missing information since the merger with Total Produce.

Because the History section is so long in my draft, I'll make my requests in smaller chunks that are hopefully a bit easier to digest.

In general, my thoughts are to organize the section by major milestone periods, essentially "Early history," "Growth" and "Modern day," though I know that Wikipedia likes to see a bit more specificity, so I've added years to the section headers.

All that in mind, I'd like to propose the creation of a new subsection in the History section that details how Dole traces its early history, something like this:

Extended content
1851–1900: Early years Main articles: Castle & Cooke and Total Produce Dole plc traces its origins to the foundation of Castle & Cooke in 1851, and Charles McCann's Fish, Fruit and Vegetable Market in the 1850s in Ireland. Castle & Cooke, a sugar and logistics company, was founded in Hawaii by Amos Starr Cooke and Samuel Northrup Castle. References

Please let me know what you think! @Zefr:, you've been so kind in reviewing my past requests, would you consider reviewing this one as well? I'd really appreciate it! WG at Dole (talk) 22:51, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

I used the whole history draft, with some copyediting, to replace the History section with this edit. I checked most of the sources, which appear to be fine, but these can be further reviewed by other editors, as needed. Zefr (talk) 17:18, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: wow, thank you so much for making that big change. I hope reviewing editors will find that the sourcing is pretty rock solid throughout. I tried very hard to stick to mainstream news sources and books.

I did have just one tiny note – in the 2000-present section, you had made a small edit that removed the year of Dole's sale of Lanai to Larry Ellison. That changed some of the timing phrasing of the sale of Dole Packaged Foods to Itochu and the company going private. My small suggestion is to change the year of the Itochu sale to 2012, as confirmed by this Reuters article. Could you change the start of that sentence to "In 2012, Dole sold its packaged food…"? That will clear up a timeline issue later.

I was also wondering if you'd consider removing the image captioned "Dole pineapples (Philippines)". Though they do bear the Dole brand, those were, at that point, Itochu pineapples, not Dole plc pineapples. Please let me know, and thank you again for reviewing that big section! WG at Dole (talk) 18:30, 19 October 2022 (UTC)

1) I edited the pineapple image caption to say that the pineapples are "Dole-branded", mainly because pineapples are the most familiar and longest-existing fruit brand of Dole (unsourced, but safe to conclude this). Upon both the Itochu and Total Produce deals, the Dole brand was retained for fresh and canned pineapples, so I assumed this was a safe way to identify the image. 2) Although the Itochu deal was announced in the fall of 2012, it did not conclude until April, 2013, which I felt justified in leading the paragraph with "In 2012-13". 3) I believe the sale of Lanai was not actually a Dole deal, but rather one by Murdock (in an undefined combination of personal financing with Castle & Cooke resources), reported here. Mentioning the sale as part of the Itochu deal and refinancing seems outside of the scope of the Dole article, even though it was likely (never described in detail) part of the financing integration and debt resolution between Murdock-C&C-Dole to close with Itochu. Zefr (talk) 19:52, 19 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: Good catch on that! I must have grabbed the wrong source from my draft. I think your edit on the image caption makes sense, thank you for doing that.

I am more than happy to exclude the bit about the sale of Lanai. It does create a weird issue with the sentence "Murdock also took Dole private again that year." Just for the sake of clarity, can you change that to "Murdock also took Dole private again in 2013"? WG at Dole (talk) 16:27, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Hopefully clarified with this edit. Zefr (talk) 19:24, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

The food safety section is mostly out of date with prior contamination outbreaks any fresh food company would face, and with no balance of positive measures required by the USDA, FDA, and industry quality assurance associations, such as in California where Dole produce is grown. Independent QA sources will be needed to support a more balanced presentation of food safety. Zefr (talk) 19:24, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: Thank you, that edit is great, and much better than what I had. I agree with you that the Food safety section could use some work. I will make a separate request for that just to keep everything organized. Thanks for your attention on this. WG at Dole (talk) 22:49, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Food safety

Hi editors, as Zefr noted, the Food safety section is a bit dated and imbalanced. I drafted a new version of the section that condenses the content, removes some things that use low-quality sourcing (I believe the general rule of thumb is to use the green sources on the reliable sources list for potentially controversial content, right?), and mentions some of the proactive steps Dole took in response to potential outbreaks. I'll post that below.

I spent a significant amount of time searching for content about the food safety steps taken in those green sources, but unfortunately came up with very little. The best thing I have other than some passing mentions of voluntary recalls, which I included in the draft section below, about Dole's efforts to improve food safety internally come from the company's Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability report. The planned efforts are on page 35 and include a strengthening of hygiene standards and use of blockchain product tagging to track potentially problematic produce. Sorry I don't have much that is better than that! I am trying to be extra mindful of my COI, so I am really focusing on those green sources in the reliable sources listand have not included that content. I'll defer to other editors on it.

Extended content

Products Freshly cut pineapple at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii in 2009. Dole plc makes or grows more than 300 products, including pineapple, bananas, berries, citrus fruits, fresh vegetables, lettuce, and packaged salads. Food safety Dole has initiated several recalls of its products and shut down manufacturing facilities for cleaning in response to outbreaks of foodborne illness, primarily related to bagged salads and leafy greens. 2000s Officials with the Minnesota Department of Health found Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Dole bagged lettuce in 2005. The outbreak infected 25 people in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon. The following year, an E. coli outbreak that infected more than 200 people and killed three was traced back to a spinach processor in California which packaged spinach under the Dole brand. Dole initiated a recall of the tainted spinach. In 2007, Dole voluntarily recalled more than 5,000 bags of its "Hearts Delight" salad mix after an inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found it had been contaminated with E. coli. No illnesses were reported from the contamination. 2010s Dole recalled its "Seven Lettuces" salads in 2012 after random testing by New York health officials found salmonella in the salads. The same year, the company issued two recalls of its bagged salads due to contamination by Listeria monocytogenes. The company initiated another recall due to contamination by L. monocytogenes in 2014. The following year, Dole recalled bagged spinach due to contamination with salmonella following safety testing conducted by the United States Food and Drug Administration at a plant in Springfield, Ohio. In 2016, an outbreak of listeriosis tied to the Springfield plant led to the hospitalization of 33 people and four deaths. The plant closed for four months that year, and later reporting revealed Dole knew about the listeria contamination in July 2014, more than a year before the plant's closure. The United States Department of Justice initiated a criminal probe into the issue. Dole settled two civil lawsuits related to the outbreak in 2017. 2020s In December 2021, Dole recalled 180 varieties of packaged salad due to possible listeria contamination and closed packaging facilities in Yuma, Arizona, and Bessemer City, North Carolina, to sanitize them. The outbreak led to an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after two people died and 17 became ill. References

Zefr, please let me know what you think of this new section. It brings the Products subsection down from Operations, which I think helps with balancing the headings of the sections a bit more, and adds a little content from the lead, but I'm certainly open to other ideas! It also adds a photo of some fresh-cut pineapple that I found on the Commons that is just a good photo. WG at Dole (talk) 22:49, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

In this edit, I used most of WG's text and sources to revamp the Products and Food safety sections. Additional independent sources for Dole's safety practices would be useful. Zefr (talk) 19:51, 21 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: Thank you for your attention there. I appreciate the way you added balance to the section with the additional mentions of some of Dole' safety programs. If I come across any other independent sources about Dole's food safety work, I'll be sure to let you know. WG at Dole (talk) 20:43, 25 October 2022 (UTC)

Criticism and controversies section

Hello editors, I've got a bit of a tricky request here but I think it makes sense based on Wikipedia policy and general redundancy. I'd like to request the removal of the Criticism and controversies section. The essence of that section has been redistributed in the History section with Zefr's updates, and done so in a way that is more complete and uses better quality sourcing.

I believe that Wikipedia policy also supports this position. The NPOV guidelines note that "Segregation of text or other content into different regions or subsections, based solely on the apparent POV of the content itself, may result in an unencyclopedic structure," which I think has happened here. The essay on criticism in articles also notes that, "Often the best approach to incorporating negative criticism into the encyclopedia is to integrate it into the article, in a way that does not disrupt the article's flow". I believe that has been accomplished with the reworked History section.

Specific items now covered by the History section include:

• DBCP lawsuits
• Wrongful death suit (with the update that the suit was dismissed with prejudice)
• Frederik Gertten documentaries

That does leave a fair bit of content to cut:

• The content under the Legal cases subheading isn't sourced, and the article linked only links back to the legal case and the case in a book of other legal cases about trade law, so I'm not sure that really qualifies as significant enough to warrant inclusion. However, I am more than happy to defer to other editors and ask that it simply be moved to the appropriate part of the History section if editors feel that is more appropriate.
• By the time Oxfam made its demands, Dole's Asian fresh produce operations had transferred to Itochu, so that sentence is not relevant to this article.
• The government of Myanmar's blacklisting was of an Itochu subsidiary, not Dole Food Company or Dole plc, as by that time Dole's Asian operations had been sold to Itochu, so that paragraph is not relevant to this article.
• I searched for the source of the sentence in the Labeling of genetically engineered foods in California subsection and could not find a version that named Dole as a donor to the political campaign. Perhaps that used to exist, but I even went on archive.org and the oldest snapshot of that article does not mention Dole anywhere. I could not find any other reliable sources that made mention of that donation, so I'd argue that content should be removed for being unsourced.

I thought I'd make all the arguments at once so they can be judged together, but I'm happy to discuss each item individually if editors prefer. Please let me know what you think and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. As always, I won't make any edits myself because of my conflict of interest. WG at Dole (talk) 20:46, 25 October 2022 (UTC)

No topic in this section pertains to Dole plc operations. I agree the entire section should be removed. Zefr (talk) 04:34, 26 October 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: Thank you for your help with this! WG at Dole (talk) 21:13, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Marketing section

Hello editors, I had another request to make of the article. Some content that has now been removed dealt with some of Dole's marketing campaigns over the years. I think some of those (and some different ones) are notable enough to warrant inclusion in this article, specifically Dole's collaboration with Georgia O'Keeffe in the early 20th century, the development of 5 A Day Adventures in the early 1990s, and Dole's collaboration with Disney, plus a small smattering of others. I have a suggestion for a Marketing section below. I've done my best to stick to only the best sources with it and tried to keep the prose as neutral as possible. Please let me know what you think!

Extended content

File:5 A Day Adventures Logo.png An ad for Dole pineapple juice, circa 1910. Early products of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company were not marketed under a particular brand name, often assuming the names of the distributors. In the early 20th century, pineapple was still relatively unknown, and James Dole and other growers mounted an awareness campaign in magazines in what the company now refers to as one of the first nationwide advertising campaigns in the United States. In 1927, the HPC began stamping its cans with the Dole brand name, with numbers to indicate the grade. These stamps ensured the Dole name would still be visible even if the label was changed by a distributor. To further advertise its products, the HPC paid artist Georgia O'Keeffe to come to Hawaii and paint a pair of advertisements for Dole pineapple juice. Following Castle & Cooke's acquisition of Standard Fruit in 1968, Standard bananas continued to be marketed under the Standard label; however, the company switched the fruit to be marketed under the Dole label in 1972. Dole overhauled its logo in the 1980s, replacing its old red-and-white logo that featured a small pineapple crown over the "o" in Dole with a more stylized logo that changed the "o" to a sunburst. This logo first began appearing in 1984. In 2018, Dole redesigned its logo again, setting sunburst logo inside a leaf shape to "(signify) natural and fresh products," according to Food Business News. In an attempt to get children to eat more fruits and vegetables, Dole developed the computer game 5 A Day Adventures in 1994. The game was offered to schools at no charge and featured characters such as Bobby Banana and Barney Broccoli that educated players about fruits and vegetables. By 1995, the game was in use in 14,000 schools around the United States. In 2016, Dole partnered with The Walt Disney Company to market fruits and vegetables branded with Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters in an effort to get children to eat more produce. The partnership included co-branded recipes to go along with Disney releases, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Frozen II. References

It will look like there are some citation errors, but those citations are defined in the main article. Zefr, would you have any interest in taking a look at this request? I'd really appreciate it! WG at Dole (talk) 21:13, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

In this edit, I used part of the proposed draft as more history than relevant to current marketing, and selected the existing major partnership arrangements to highlight in a "Comarketing" subsection under Products. I felt some of the proposed marketing efforts were out of date or not relevant to the 2022 Dole products and marketing. Zefr (talk) 16:56, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr: I can understand where you are coming from. I wanted to be thorough and let the volunteers decide. Thanks for your attention here.

One thing I would like to note, though, is that the agreements with Disney and Pepsico (I'd note again that the Pepsico deal is with Itochu, not Dole plc) are licensure deals, not co-marketing. Would you consider changing that phrasing to improve the accuracy in that section? WG at Dole (talk) 18:47, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

 Done - thanks for clarifying. Zefr (talk) 19:02, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Thank you! WG at Dole (talk) 19:17, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

Sustainability and philanthropy

Hello editors, I've got another request to add content to the article. I suggest adding small sections on Dole's sustainability and philanthropy efforts. I've done my best to stick to reliable sources, and included one primary source for a basic statement of fact. I suggest something a bit like the following:

Extended content

Philanthropy Dole partnered with First Lady Michelle Obama's 2010 Let's Move! campaign to install salad bars in school cafeterias in the United States. By 2013, the partnership had created nearly 2,500 salad bars in schools around the country. In 2020, Dole donated more than 2 million pounds of produce to food banks in the United States and Latin America, as well personal protective equipment to Latin American communities, during shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Sustainability In 2014, Dole made investments in the Port of San Diego's shore power infrastructure to reduce exhaust emissions from docked ships. Dole added five electric freight trucks to its fleet at the port in 2022, making 35% of Dole trucks electric. In 2020, Dole launched "The Dole Way" initiative, which laid out food safety, philanthropic, and environmental goals for the company to achieve by 2030. References

Please let me know what you think! I will not make this edit myself due to my COI. @Zefr: I really appreciate all the work you've done on this article and responding to my requests. Would you consider reviewing this one as well? I'd appreciate it! WG at Dole (talk) 19:20, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

With respect, WG, the 2013-14 efforts do not apply to the new plc company, and the food donations and sustainability commitment seem nominal in the industry (Del Monte, Chiquita), and would have an air of promotion if used. I'll watch to see how other editors respond. Zefr (talk) 22:11, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

I agree with @Zefr, the 2013-14 efforts were credited to the Dole Food Company (the old US corporation) and not the plc (fka Total Produce) so i think that they should not be added. The general tone of this request is also too promotional to me. Quetstar (talk) 22:54, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

@Zefr and Quetstar: thanks for your responses. Just to be clear, Dole Food Company is what became Dole plc, and so the Port of San Diego and salad bar initiatives very much apply to the plc company. However, I hear what you are saying about the potential to sound promotional and so I will leave it there. Thanks again to you both for the time you spent to review these requests, and Zefr, thanks for all your help here and willingness to review long chunks of text! It was a pleasure. WG at Dole (talk) 23:29, 21 November 2022 (UTC)

Founding date

Any help on what to consider as a corporation's founding date? This page had listed the date in the infobox as June 2023, an obvious mistake. Looking through the history shows what looks like a mistaken reversion to a good-faith error, but back beyond that it seems to have said 1851 for a while. That's the founding date of Castle & Cooke, a company that would eventually buy Dole, but James Dole himself hadn't even been born at that point. Looking at archives of their page, Dole seems once to have claimed 1851 as a founding date, but now ([1]) says the "foundations" were laid in 1851 and claims no particular date. James Dole established the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (which would later bear his name) in 1901, so that's the date I put in, but this sort of thing seems like as much philosophy as history. Three white leopards (talk) 18:38, 29 May 2023 (UTC)

New talk page topics go to the bottom of the page, WP:TPL.

We did a major history revision in Oct 2022 with a Dole employee (WG at Dole who did not edit), shown here, with the founding" as 1851. Technically, Dole was a private division of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company until 1961 when it was split out on its own, with the statement in History/1900–1969: Expansion and acquisition, "The Hawaiian Pineapple Company was renamed the "Dole Company" and became a subsidiary of Castle & Cooke in 1961" - which is likely when consumers first thought of Dole as a company. Until we have a specific source to differ from that version, we should stay with it.

Another issue is that the current article is entitled, "Dole plc", a name and new brand that first appeared when Total Produce began acquiring ownership over a 5 year period in 2018, concluding in 2023. Zefr (talk) 21:55, 29 May 2023 (UTC)

Thanks! There probably isn't an unambiguous date the company was founded, any more than there's an unambiguous "source of the Nile," but "when did consumers first think of them as a company?" is a pretty good question to help focus the discussion. (Is this the sort of thing that would have a Wikipedia guideline about it somewhere? I looked for one but didn't see anything helpful.) Glad it has a defensible answer now and doesn't say "June 2023" anymore! :) Three white leopards (talk) 22:10, 29 May 2023 (UTC)

Add a criticism or controversy section

Hearing about how Dole used gangs down in South America to enforce their “growing” operations and other controversies related to the brand would be terrific for this page. Wiscipidier (talk) 20:07, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

This was discussed above in 2022, but there were no reliable sources within the recent past to support any change to the article. Zefr (talk) 20:38, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

I strongly believe that this article needs a separate Criticism and Controversies section, to aid readers in quickly navigating to, and reading about the company's negative practices. By "hiding" it in the history of the company under the guise of comprehensiveness, I think we have muddied the accessibility of key information. Additionally, I find the lack of thorough research / writing of this article a little surprising. For example, a similar section in a competing brand's page clearly mentions Dole, but somehow is not a section in this article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiquita#Payments_to_terrorist_groups 2603:7000:4DF0:900:9D5E:FD3C:2AD6:CA94 (talk) 02:20, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

You would need to propose wording for the evidence of "negative practices" with WP:RS source(s) for other editors to review and discuss per WP:CON. Zefr (talk) 03:25, 14 October 2024 (UTC)