Standard Fruit Company (now
Dole Food Company) was established in the
United States in 1924 by the
Vaccaro brothers. Its forerunner was started in 1899, when
Sicilian immigrants Joseph, Luca and Felix Vaccaro, together with Salvador D'Antoni, began importing bananas to
New Orleans from
La Ceiba,
Honduras. By 1915 the business had grown so large that it bought most of the ice factories in New Orleans, in order to refrigerate its banana ships, leading to its president Joseph Vaccaro becoming known as the "Ice King".