Dole Embarks On Cross-Country Tour To "Shake Up Your Summer" With Healthy Snacks In Support Of Local Boys & Girls Club Chapters

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kick off a healthy start to summer with the DOLE® Shake It Up! Summer Tour. Dole is embarking on an eight-city sampling tour across the United States to help families find fun ways to choose more nutritious snacks and share in an exciting and upbeat fitness activity together during the summer. Dole is taking two new products made with all-natural frozen fruit—DOLE Fruit Smoothie Shakers® and DOLE Frozen Fruit Single-serve Cups—and hitting the road, to bring frozen fun and fitness to families across America.

Kids are especially at risk for making unhealthy food choices in the summer, when snacking is at an all-time high. While learning how to improve their families' overall wellness during the tour, consumers can also help support local Boys & Girls Club chapters. In alignment with the health and nutrition programs of these clubs, the new frozen products from Dole offer many ways to incorporate more fruit into a healthy diet during the summer.

"Summer is the perfect time to shake up your routine and the DOLE Shake It Up Summer Tour is a great way for us to share delicious products that make it easier to choose a snack that is healthy," said Paul Panza, director of marketing at Dole Packaged Foods. "We're proud to be donating these nutritious items to local Boys & Girls Club chapters and introduce the kids to fun options like tasty fruit and yogurt smoothies that don't require a blender. We hope everyone will come out in support of these great clubs."

For every sample Dole gives out, one healthy snack will be donated to the local Boys & Girls Club chapter in each respective city. Additionally, consumers across the country can visit the DOLE® Shake It Up! Summer Tour on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Dole, and click to give additional healthy snacks to all local Boys & Girls Club chapters supported during the tour. Everyone can help Dole reach its goal of donating 100,000 healthy snacks to clubs across the country.

Dole's Fit Kid initiative encourages kids to eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and be physically active for at least 30 minutes per day. Overall, snacking now accounts for about 27 percent of an average child's total daily calories and fruit drinks have replaced whole fruit as a snack, according to a 2010 study published in the Journal of Health Affairs. Swapping typical snacks for whole fruit or fruit and yogurt smoothies adds nutrients necessary for optimal development and energy – and lowers intake of snacks high in fat, salt and sugar, which contribute to obesity.

"The Madison Square Boys & Girls Club is all too familiar with the barriers youth face each day that prevent them from living healthy and fit lives," said Quentin Ball, Director of Corporate Relations for Madison Square Boys & Girls Club in New York. "We were thrilled when Dole approached us with this opportunity to provide our Clubhouse members with a supply of healthy snacks for the summer. The Dole tour supports the work we are doing through our core program areas to instill in our youth a life-long passion and commitment to a nutritious diet and physical fitness."

Throughout the eight-city mobile sampling tour, Dole will also be offering Latin-inspired dance classes to help inspire Americans to shake their way towards a healthier diet and lifestyle. The classes will be a rousing 15-minutes of calorie-burning, effective, and—most importantly—enjoyable fitness for the whole family.  

DOLE Fruit Smoothie Shakers are made with frozen yogurt beads and finely cut fruit. Through Dole's unique product development, simply remove from the freezer, add your favorite juice, and then shake for 30-45 seconds for an instant real-fruit smoothie.  Shake your way into a healthy, great tasting smoothie – without the mess of using a blender and at a fraction of the cost of buying from a smoothie shop.

DOLE Fruit Smoothie Shakers come in three delicious and nutritious varieties: Strawberry Banana (rich in Vitamin C), Strawberry (high in Fiber) and Mixed Berry (5 grams of Protein per serving). DOLE Fruit Smoothie Shakers contain pre- and probiotics (live and active cultures). These low-fat smoothies at only 180 – 190 calories per serving (with 7-oz of juice) are also a good source of calcium. 

Unlike traditional shelf-stable and refrigerated fruit cups that are packed in juice or syrup, DOLE Frozen Fruit Single-serve Cups are just fruit and contain no added sugars or preservatives. Each convenient single-serve cup contains a full serving of fruit and 50 calories or less. Simply grab a cup from your freezer and enjoy as a snack any time of day, or use for smoothies, as toppings on yogurt or granola, as recipe ingredients, or on its own as a healthy dessert. DOLE Frozen Fruit Single-serve Cups come in three delicious varieties: Blueberries, Sliced Strawberries and Pineapple Tidbits. A breakthrough, patent-pending technology used on delicate strawberries and blueberries minimizes texture-loss during defrost for a just-like-fresh appearance, taste and texture.

DOLE Shake It Up! Summer Tour - 2012 Schedule

Dole will post photos from each stop and track donations to the following Boys & Girls Club chapters:

• Madison Square Boys & Girls Club
  
• Boys & Girls Club of Boston
  
• Boys & Girls Club of Metropolitan Baltimore
  
• Boys & Girls Club of Greater Charlotte
  
• Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta
  
• Boys & Girls Club of The Austin Area
  
• Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood
  
• Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco

About Dole Food Company, Inc.

Dole, with 2011 net revenues of $7.2 billion, is the world's largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, and is the leading producer of organic bananas. Dole markets a growing line of packaged and frozen fruit and is a produce industry leader in nutrition education and research.

Media Contact:
Amy Hamaoui, GolinHarris
213-438-8776
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SOURCE DOLE