CHARLOTTE, NC - An industry-leading banana provider, frozen dessert maker, and home composter have kicked-off the week leading up to National Banana Day on April 16 with an educational initiative and sweepstakes focused on the full sustainable lifecycle of the world’s most popular fruit and most-purchased item in the supermarket.

The “Farm-to-Table-to-Garden National Banana Day Sweepstakes” launches this week as a purpose-driven collaboration between Dole Food Company, Ninja, and Reencle to show the banana-loving public how easy it is to use the iconic fruit to make ice cream, soft-serve desserts and even the beloved Dole Whip® and then compost the peels to create a farm-to-table-to-garden food cycle right in your own home.

Continuing through National Banana Day on April 16, banana and dessert fans can enter to win a Farm-to-Table-to-Garden Prize Pack featuring a one-year supply of DOLE® Bananas, a Ninja SwirlTM by CREAMi® Soft-Serve & Ice Cream Machine and Reencle Home Composter, valued at more than $950.

A co-branded National Banana Week webpage (www.Dole.com/bananahaul) is now live with sustainability-themed digital downloads, videos and other free assets including a Dole Whip® Recipe Booklet and Bucket List. The three partners are sharing recipes and usage ideas featuring different exotic banana varieties available at U.S. retailers with a special focus on the 14 official Dole Whip® recipes on the Dole Whip® Wonderland page -- 12 of which call for DOLE® Bananas.

Dole will also present a National Banana Week edition of its popular “Dole Fresh Living” video series on April 15 at 10am ET on the Dole Instagram channel. Melanie Marcus, MA, RD, and Rachel Young, Dole’s resident nutrition and social experts, will walk viewers through the sustainable preparation and composting of Dole’s Classic DIY Dole Whip® and Blue Hawaiian Dole Whip® using a Ninja Swirl™ and Reencle Home Composter.

After its April 15 premiere, the video will post to the National Banana Week webpage.

The three National Banana Week partners are optimistic that the launch will remind consumers that sustainability and healthy, delicious eating are not mutually exclusive

“Dole’s goal with this year’s National Banana Week was to share the entire life cycle journey of a simple banana beyond one dimension of peeling and eating by including Ninja and Reencle in a deliciously sustainable collaboration that’s as good for the planet as it is for banana lovers – and I think we’ve succeeded,” said William Goldfield, Dole Food Company’s director of communications.

"Our customers love using the Ninja Swirl™ by CREAMi® to create their own personalized versions of the iconic Dole Whip, so this collaboration was a perfect fit, said Kaitlyn Hebert, chief marketing officer at Ninja, in a recent press release. “We're excited to be able to give banana enthusiasts the tools they need to create quality frozen treats at home while supporting eco-friendly initiatives."

"Our vision for National Banana Day was similar: enjoy the delicious fruit, transform it into amazing frozen treats, and compost the peels to complete nature's perfect cycle,” said Sung Ho Park, marketing lead at Reencle. “We hope this leads to more households discovering the satisfaction of watching banana peels disappear and turn into nutrient-rich compost to grow tomorrow's produce."

To enter the sweepstakes, shoppers need to post a photo of a DOLE® Banana taken at their favorite supermarket with the hashtag #BananaHaul on Dole’s Facebook or Instagram page before 12 Noon ET on April 16. Participants can also post a photo of a Ninja SwirlTM by CREAMi® Soft-Serve & Ice Cream Machine or Reencle Home Composter using the same hashtag. No purchase is necessary to enter.

For full sweepstakes rules, go to https://www.dole.com/bananahaul.