The history of the Hamburg fruit-trading enterprise began in the year 1863, when the Hanseatic merchant Philipp Astheimer established a company for auctioning fruit and vegetables. Astheimer traded with oranges and lemons brought from Italy to Hamburg via sailing ships. Hamburg and the fruit trade – a perfect fit from the very outset.
In Fruit Love, a book celebrating 150 Years of Fruit in Hamburg (limited edition of 1,500 copies), not only is the story told of a company that grew from a small trading venture to a fruit corporation, but the global production chain of this fruit trader is also explained in detail: On the banana’s own journey, the reader accompanies these fruits around the world – from the cultivation of the banana plants on Dole farms in Costa Rica and Ecuador to their transport on one of the company’s 14 container ships, to ripening of the fruits at the ripening center in Stelle, just outside of Hamburg, all the way through to the sale of the ripe fruit at Hamburg Fish Market.
In celebration of the anniversary, the company has revised its corporate website at dole.de and dole.eu and is now placing 50 million anniversary stickers on Dole bananas with a retro design. The website now includes a wealth of information about Dole's Hamburg location as well as a digital version of the anniversary book and a contest with ten trips to the Hanseatic city valued at EUR 1,000.
