Dole forays into dietary supplement space

23-Feb-2023 - Last updated on 23-Feb-2023 at 16:31 GMT

Image courtesy of Dole

Just ahead of Expo West, the CPG giant’s new line of vitamin chews hit the shelves. This spring, the company will also release probiotic fruit sodas.

Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, grows, sources, distributes and markets fruit and healthy snacks in the snacks and frozen categories, now it’s adding beverage and functional supplements to the mix.

Best known for its fresh produce, Dole has entered the $35 million VMS space with its fruit-powered vitamin line.

With Expo West quickly approaching, Dole debuted The Secret Nature of Fruit supplement line. The company said the launch is a transformative step for Dole as it transitions into a health and wellness company and introduces products into two new and different categories—chewable supplements and probiotic sodas.

Orzse Hodi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, USA, Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, said the 170-year-old CPG fruit company is accelerating its transformation into a purpose-led health and wellness company.

“And entering the functional supplements category is an integral part of this transformation. The Secret Nature of Fruit is a product of our fruit-forward approach and insatiable curiosity," said Hodi. "This new sustainable line explores every part of the nutritional power of all the fruits nature provides. To promote healthy hair, skin and nails, we used the Dole Promise and science as our guide to develop something truly transformational."

Lineup

The line taps the power of phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, adaptogens and targets a range of specific health needs such as immunity, beauty, focus and energy.

The company explained that the chews contain a range of diverse fruits, such as guava, passion fruit and pomegranate, with phytonutrients extracted from all parts of the fruit to bring a new dimension of flavor and nutritional benefits. Beyond clean ingredients with no processed sugars, the Fruit-Powered Vitamin Chews are formulated to help meet the daily recommended amount of key vitamins and minerals.

Varieties include:

Immunity: Featuring orange, camu camu and ginger root, the formulation promotes immune support and provides a good source of antioxidant vitamin C and zinc
Beauty: For healthy hair, skin and nails, strawberry and pomegranate are combined with vitamins A and E, biotin and CoQ10 to support a clear complexion and help fight free radicals
Focus: Passion fruit, strawberry, Choline, L-theanine and vitamins B6 and B12 merge to help promote alertness, clarity and focus
Energy: This formula is described as a total body vitality boost to help energize via watermelon, guava, vitamin B12, iron and ashwagandha

The Secret Nature of Fruit vitamin chews is available for purchase online through Amazon and at select retailers for $13.99. This spring, the chews will be distributed more widely on a national scale.

Sustainability

The company focuses on four pillars of sustainability in all its operations: water management, carbon footprint, soil conservation and packaging.

With these pillars in mind, the company said its vitamin chews are made sustainably in a simple square shape, resulting in little to no waste. The Secret Nature of Fruit's Fruit-Powered Vitamin Chews also uses 100% recycled plastic (rPET) for packaging, which is a clear, strong, and lightweight recycled plastic that has been cleaned and transformed into a new container. The packaging components used are recyclable, specifically the bottle and cap.

Coming up

As the company makes its way into the health and wellness space, Dole will also launch its Probiotic Sodas, a line of probiotic fruit sodas that contain 15% fruit juice and 2 billion live probiotics to support gut health. Flavors include Tropical Passionfruit, Spiced Pineapple and Refreshing Peach, which will hit shelves at the end of April 2023. A fourth flavor is also in the works. The probiotic sodas will retail for $2.69 a pop.