Dole partnered Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) in 2021 to set up Dole Specialty Ingredients (DSI), a B2B unit focused on commercialising upcycled fruit side streams for food and beverage manufacturers.
DSI Managing Director Wei Tze Ooi said the business is built around three factors shaping manufacturers’ purchasing decisions: green-label credentials, natural positioning, and functional benefits.
He described these as the key “trigger points” that encourage brands to consider upcycled ingredients.
“The broader trend we’re aligned with is healthy longevity. This requires ingredients that are natural, green-label and functional. Finding one ingredient that does everything is very difficult – functional ingredients are often not green enough, and green ingredients are often not functional enough. Our products, however, are 100% green-label and functional,” Ooi told FoodNavigator.
Simplifying the supply chain
As demand for green-label products grows, food manufacturers are also seeking to simplify ingredient sourcing to improve traceability and supply chain efficiency.
This is especially the case for European and US buyers – due to the geographical distance and time difference, customers from these regions prefer to procure tropical fruits from a single source.
“European and American customers often ask: ‘Since I’m buying pineapple juice from you, could you also supply papaya, mango and other fruits?’”, Ooi shared, adding that the firm’s specialties include tropical fruits such as mango, papaya, and avocado.
Additionally, to support growth, DSI has moved beyond traditional B2B commodity trading into application development and finished-product formulation.
Moving beyond commodity ingredients
The firm now positions itself as an integrated solutions provider, supplying both ingredients and formulation support for categories such as snacks, sauces, cereals and supplements.
“We no longer compete as a commodity trading firm, because there are already many cheaper and more functional starches in the market, although many of those are modified,” said Ooi.
Instead, DSI is focusing on value-added ingredients derived from pineapple and banana, including prebiotic fibres and resistant starch powders. According to Ooi, these ingredients can function as texturisers and thickeners while delivering fibre benefits in a clean-label format.
This allows DSI to compete on functionality and clean-label positioning rather than price alone.
“Banana and pineapple are globally recognised foods, so consumers accept them more easily compared to unfamiliar sources,” he added.
DSI supplies its ingredients globally through distributors and strategic partners. Its customer base includes major Japanese confectionery brands that use DSI’s banana powder in some of their products, as well as flavour and ingredient specialist Givaudan, DSI’s partner in Europe and the US.
Market priorities in APAC
DSI identifies Japan, Korea, China and Malaysia as its priority markets in the Asia Pacific region.
Japan remains the top focus due to Dole’s strong brand recognition and good market share in bananas, which lowers the barrier for banana-based innovation. The country’s rapidly ageing population is also driving demand for functional and nutrition-focused products.
Korea shows similar consumer behaviour to Japan, but demand is further supported by its cosmetics and supplements industries, said Ooi.
He added that DSI’s approach to China remains in an exploratory phase due to its size and regional diversity.
Another high-potential market is Malaysia.
“Malaysia is a very big OEM base for the supplement and functional food industry. A few distributors are already buying our ingredients to use in supplements,” said Ooi.
This aligns with broader health and wellness trends that are gaining traction in the snacks, beverages, and supplements industries – where DSI is seeing strongest growth.
Beyond market demand, Ooi said the company is focused on unlocking the nutritional value of fruit side streams.
“No one has really studied the nutritional value of fruit side streams. For example, it takes one and a half years to grow a pineapple, and even the skin still contains nutritional components,” Ooi said.
“So first, we saw the scale of the waste. Second, the strategic geography. Third, the nutritional potential – fibre and more – that could be extracted. That’s why we went into this business.”
