The World Food Championships announce Dole Package

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The World Food Championships announced today Dole Packaged Foods, LLC as the official sponsor of the World Dessert Championship. The World Dessert Championship will take place Thursday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas as part of the seven-category food event.

Competitors at the World Food Championships will be required to use Dole Packaged Foods as part of the category finals round of the World Dessert Championship. The World Food Championships in 2013 has adopted a tournament-style structure to the competition where cooks are challenged to use their culinary creativity and recipe development skills.

"Walk into nearly any pantry and you're going to find at least one Dole Packaged Foods product," said Mike McCloud, president and CEO of Trybe Targeting, producers of the $300,000 World Food Championships. "We are thrilled to welcome such a popular brand to the World Food Championships."

The Dole California Cook-off recipe contest, held earlier this year, was an automatic qualifying contest to the World Recipe Championship competition at the World Food Championships. As such, the contest's grand-prize winner, Ally Phillips, a native of Murrells Inlet, S.C., will be representing Dole in the World Recipe Championship. Each of her innovative recipes will include Dole Packaged Foods products and may be available following the event on her blog, AllysKitchen.com.

"Dole Packaged Foods is excited to be a part of the Recipe and Dessert categories at the World Food Championships, the world's highest stakes food competition," said Michael Contreras, digital marketing manager at Dole Packaged Foods, LLC. "We look forward to sharing culinary innovations on and off the competition stage which highlight our full line of canned, jarred, cup, frozen or dried fruit products."

Celebrity chef, Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station, who has been a great partner with Dole Packaged Foods the past five years as the head judge for the Dole California Cook-off recipe contest, will be participating in the World Food Championships as well. The renowned chef will be a judge during the category finals round of the World Dessert Championship and during the Final Table Championships on Sunday. Additionally, Ford will host the daily Dole Delicious Moment, highlighting a selected World Food Championships competitor and their recipe, which will be recreated to incorporate Dole Packaged Foods in a live kitchen studio and demonstrated to attendees at the event.

Only in Las Vegas can food, fame and fortune be combined into one jackpot event. The second annual World Food Championships will invite the champions from some of the biggest and best food competitions around the world to Las Vegas for one ultimate defining moment. Following a tournament-style format across seven iconic food categories, BBQ, chili, burger, sandwich, recipe, dessert and bacon, competitors will battle for their chance to claim the World Food Champion title.

To stay in the food champ chatter and for more information on the World Food Championships, visit worldfoodchampionships.com, Facebook.com/WorldFoodChampionships or Twitter (@WorldFoodChamp).

Also, check out Facebook.com/Dole to keep up with the latest news and promotions from Dole, or www.Dole.com/Recipes for easy and delicious ideas for entertaining or everyday use.

ABOUT DOLE PACKAGED FOODS

Dole Packaged Foods LLC, a subsidiary of Dole International Holdings, is a leader in sourcing, processing, distributing and marketing fruit products and healthy snacks throughout the world.

Dole markets a full line of canned, jarred, cup, frozen and dried fruit products and is an innovator in new forms of packaging and processing fruit. For more information please visit Dole.com.

ABOUT TRYBE TARGETING

Trybe Targeting was launched in 2009 as the food and enthusiast marketing division of MMA Creative Inc., a 22−year−old marketing and advertising agency with offices in Nashville, Cookeville, Tenn. And Orlando, Fla. Trybe Targeting is the agency of record to the Kansas City Barbeque Society, International Chili Society, the American Pie Council, and World's Championship Chili Cookoff. Trybe Targeting also helped develop the 2011 Inaugural Sam's Club National BBQ Tour, the richest competition series in barbecue history, and the $300,000 World Food Championships, the ultimate culinary competition.

Jeff Morris 615-297-6886