Dole celebrates winner of totally bananas challenge
Dole celebrates winner of totally bananas challenge
Latrobe, PA, resident Leo Sun is the winner of the second annual Dole Great American Banana Challenge after peeling and eating 11.5 bananas in the 125-second competition on Aug. 23, topping his own record of 11 bananas set during the inaugural event last year.
One of the signature events of the Great American Banana Split Celebration, the annual three-day festival marking the invention of the iconic dessert in Latrobe in 1904, the challenge was created by Dole Food Co. in 2024 to honor its 125th year in the banana business. The produce leader has committed to sponsoring the competition through at least 2027.
According to Banana Challenge rules, the banana fan who peels and eats the most Dole bananas on the Robindale Main Stage of the Great American Banana Split Celebration receives the Dole Banana Challenge Championship Belt, created by Latrobe-based Wildcat Championship Belts, Dole and event organizers exclusively for the competition.
The Great American Banana Split Celebration has been an annual destination for banana and dessert fans since 2013 when the Pennsylvania Historical Society unveiled a marker at the downtown Latrobe site where the banana split was invented. Dole helped organize the inaugural celebration in conjunction with Aug. 25’s designation as National Banana Split Day.
“Dole is proud to sponsor both the three-day celebration and Banana Challenge and congratulates Leo Sun for bringing home the Dole Banana Belt for the second year in a row,” said William Goldfield, Dole’s director of communications. “It’s rewarding to see this small event that we helped start 13 years ago to honor Latrobe and National Banana Split Day grow into a destination celebration that draws tens of thousands annually.”
Also making an appearance at the three-day festival were Dole’s Bobby Banana, its seven-foot healthy eating mascot, and Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day fame.