Dole is introducing a new line of all-fresh, ready-to-eat salad kits that combine plant-based protein with original dressings and hearty, on-trend ingredients to give produce lovers a level of salad experience typically reserved for restaurants and delicatessens.

Dole Bountiful Kits target flexitarian and paleo consumers with a ready-to-eat blend of Dole lettuces and vegetables topped with an innovative Fresh Pouch packet of all-fresh grains, nuts, seeds and other ingredients not often associated with this category. The result is a more satiating salad that eats like a meal.

Four new Dole Bountiful Kit SKUs shipped March 25 for national distribution by early May.

• Dole Sweet Thai Bountiful Kit:  Fresh Dole chopped iceberg, green leaf and carrots combined with a Dole Bountiful Blend of edamame, black beans, red rice and sesame seeds in a Fresh Pouch and topped with Dole’s Sweet Thai Chili Dressing.
• Dole Lentil Cucumber Bountiful Kit:  Fresh Dole chopped green leaf, iceberg, radishes, and red cabbage combined with a Dole Bountiful Blend of marinated green, black and red lentils in a Fresh Pouch and topped with Dole’s Cucumber Vinaigrette.
• Dole Fiesta Ranch Bountiful Kit:  Fresh Dole chopped green leaf, iceberg, red cabbage, and carrots combined with a Dole Bountiful Blend of corn, black beans and red bell peppers in a Fresh Pouch and topped with Dole’s Taco Ranch Dressing.
• Dole Triple Quinoa Bountiful Kit:  Fresh Dole chopped kale and carrots combined with a Dole Bountiful Blend of red, white and black quinoa and chickpeas in a Fresh Pouch and topped with Dole’s Lemon Basil Vinaigrette.

“Dole designed Bountiful Kits from the ground up to fulfill simultaneous consumer demands for clean eating, plant-based protein, vegan and flexitarian diets, ketogenic foods and a preference for complete calories over empty calories,” said Lisa Overman, director of marketing for Dole. “Since a third of American shoppers now consider themselves to be flexitarian, meaning they actively incorporate more plant-based protein into their diets, we set out to create a more robust, satiating salad consistent with the top superfood trends of seeds, nuts, ancient grains and kale, among others.”

“When combined with fresh-cut Dole lettuces and vegetables, plus an original Dole dressing, these clean-burning, plant-based proteins offer produce shoppers a far more satisfying salad experience than they’d expect to find at favorite restaurants or delis.”

According to Overman, a key product innovation is the Fresh Pouch in each Dole Bountiful Kit containing all-fresh ingredients ranging from edamame, beans, lentils and bell peppers to rice, corn, quinoa and chickpeas.

Dole Bountiful Kits were developed and are being marketed as an extension of Dole’s popular Chopped! Kits line. They offer the protein necessary to be enjoyed as a meal, as the foundation for a larger recipe or paired with other lean protein options as part of a flexitarian lifestyle.  

Reflecting their denser ingredient mix, Dole Bountiful Kits will carry a suggested retail price of $4.29.