Dole Peel the Love trucking route website

Dole Food Company's promotional Peel the Love Summer Food Truck Tour has hit the road in the US, on a 4,800-mile summer campaign to'reacquaint Americans with the fun, whimsy and irreverence of bananas', and ultimately and get them to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Organised by Dole Bananas, the 102-day trek will stop at supermarkets, public events and other venues in eight specially selected cities to offer tastes of the latest banana recipes, recipe cards, product samples and other free giveaways.

The eight visited cities – Seattle, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Des Moines, Baltimore/Washington, D.C and New York City – enjoy significantly higher per-capita banana consumption than the national average.

The Tour is targeting health-, fitness- and lifestyle-oriented consumers and partnering with retailers to suggest new serving, pairing and entertaining options. Both brands are also reaching out to registered dieticians (RDs), supermarket nutritionists, food bloggers and other influentials about the health, taste and convenience advantages of bananas, almonds and almond milk.

The new recipes that will be available for sampling range from Banana Pineapple Coconut Smoothies and Thai Noodle Salad with Banana Peanut Dressing to Banana Pudding Pops, Dole Banana S’mores, and Dole Grilled Bananas and Chocolate Monkeys.

Walk-up visitors to the Peel the Love Food Truck will be able to take home a host of other free surprises including recipe cards for easy-to-make foods and snacks; Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almondmilk, Dole Fruit Bowls and Dole Squish’ems product samples; banana-themed coloring books, T-shirts, hats and other promotional items; and discount coupons and brochures.

“After months of planning, we’re excited to finally be hitting the road to take our message that bananas and nutrition can be fun to cities from coast to coast,” explained Bil Goldfield, communications manager of Dole Fresh Fruit. “We’ll be bringing free samples, coupons and compelling new recipes to banana lovers at public events, nonprofit agencies and some of the most popular supermarkets in America.”