Produce provider uses kid-worthy recipes, nostalgically designed school merch, free digital downloads and collectable banana stickers and pineapple tags to help families keep the fall season fruitful, fun and full of character
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dole Food Company is calling upon its top banana and pineapple to help families jump back into the fall season and back-to-school routine in the most fun way ever.
Bobby Banana and Pinellopy Pineapple, Dole’s beloved healthy-living mascots, are back, front-and-center, hosting an eight-week initiative featuring produce-rich recipe ideas, serving suggestions, expert information, digital downloads, character merchandise and in-store and at-home resources that can ease the transition for parents and heads of households and help them fuel young minds and bodies for success during the new school year.
Kicking off this week, “Back to School with Bobby Banana” continues through Sept. 15 with a “bunch” of free assets and activities designed to inspire kids and families of all configurations to embrace a healthy fall routine that is fun, fruitful and full of character.
“It’s no secret that after the relaxed days of summer, a return to school, sports, early-morning wakeup calls and weekly activities can be frantic for any family,” said Bil Goldfield, director of corporate communications for Dole Food Company. “This year, we’re out to help make this shift smoother by providing parents a usable toolkit to create their own healthy, happy household schedule for the fall.”
A set of seven collectible DOLE® Banana stickers and DOLE® Pineapple tags, featuring the iconic Bobby Banana and Pinellopy Pineapple on tens of millions of pieces of freshly harvested Dole fruit, will welcome shoppers to the produce section of supermarkets across North America.
Included in the sticker set is a QR code that leads back to the promotional landing page offering kid-friendly recipes, back-to-school-themed wearables and gear from the Dole Shop, and digital downloads and printable activities including Bobby’s Wake Up! Weekdays School Spotify Mix, Bobby Banana and Pinellopy Pineapple Peel-and-Play Banana Sticker Sheets and create-your-own Lunchbox Weekly Menu Planner, Bento Banter Lunchbox Jokes & Facts, Lunchbox Affirmation Notes and a First/Last Day of School Photo Sign,
Dole is also working with its retailer partners to showcase the collectible banana stickers and pineapple tags with in-store signage to create added excitement at the shopper level. The company is collaborating with bloggers and social influencers who can share the healthy fall eating message and resources with their followers.
For added encouragement, Melanie Marcus, MA, RD, Dole’s nutrition and health communications manager, has selected 15 nutritious-but-fun breakfast, lunch, snack and after-school recipes from the Dole onsite recipe library that both kids and their parents can agree on.
They include the following:
Breakfast
1. Orange Super Smoothie (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Low-Fat)
2. Power-Pop Breakfast Smoothie (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Low-Fat)
3. Banana Breakfast Sandwiches (Vegetarian)
Lunch
4. Lion Cub Lunch (Gluten-Free)
5. Maui Pizza Rollups (Vegetarian)
6. Peanut Butter Pineapple Burritos (Vegetarian)
Snacks
7. Oven-Dried Fruit Leather (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free)
8. Fruit Sushi (Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Low Sodium)
9. Loaded Banana Bread (Vegetarian)
10. Whipped Strawberry Yogurt Dip (Vegetarian, Vegan, GF, Low-Sodium)
11. Baked Broccoli Cheese Tots (Vegetarian, Vegan, Low-Fat)
12. Ultimate Fruit Infinity Jars (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Low-Sodium)
13. Grab and Go Chewy Banana Cereal Bars (Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free)
14. Banana-Brownie Batter Energy Bites (Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free)
15. Snack-Snack Attack (Vegetarian)
For more information, go to the Back to School with Bobby Banana page. For more original Dole recipes, nutritional insights, and other information, visit www.dole.com or follow Dole’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest pages.
About Dole Food Company, Inc.
Dole Food Company, part of Dole plc, is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education. For more information, please visit www.dole.com
