About Dole and Itochu
Dole
Dole began in Hawaii in 1851 when James Dole bought some land and harvested a crop of sweet juicy pineapples. He shipped them back to the continental United States and built a company whose reputation was based on quality. Dole Food Company, Inc has been a produce industry leader in nutrition education and research.
Itochu
In April 2013 the Itochu Corporation completed its acquisition of the fresh fruit and vegetable business in Asia and the global processed foods business formally held by Dole Food Company Inc.
Itochu is one of the largest sogo shosha ( general trading) companies in Japan and ranks amongst the world's largest companies. The Itochu Group with the Itochu Corporation at its center has more than 700 subsidiaries.
The history of ITOCHU Corporation dates back to 1858 when the Company's founder Chubei Itoh commenced linen trading operations. Since then, ITOCHU has evolved and grown over 150 years, engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textiles, machinery, information and communications-related products, metals, products related to oil and other energy sources, general merchandise, chemicals, and provisions and food.
