AgroFair is the first fruit importer to become a member of the Clean Cargo Working Group. They will cooperate with major shipping companies and well-known companies such as IKEA, Nike, Heineken and DHL to make container shipping more sustainable. “AgroFair has played a pioneer role in making bananas fair and sustainable. We introduced Oké-bananas twenty years ago. But that does not mean the work is done. The Fairtrade system makes sure our banana farmers receive fair compensation, guaranteed purchases and a bonus for social development. Our farmers, who are also the company’s co-owners, are therefore doing much better nowadays compared to twenty years ago,” says Cornelie den Otter.
“It is a good time to see if we can make the entire chain more sustainable. It then would not just concern the production of bananas, but also transport. That is why we started our ‘active sustainability plan’ last year, which is focused on creating a sustainable chain. Shipping is an important part of that. The Clean Cargo Working Group (GDS) is a global, business-to-business initiative dedicated to improving environmental performances of container shipping. The Clean Cargo Working Group developed tools to measure and report environmental effects and performances of member shipping companies. This represents emissions performances of 23 of the largest shipping companies worldwide, which is approximately 85 per cent of shipping companies globally,” Den Otter continues.
For more information:
Cornelie den Otter
AgroFair Benelux
Koopliedenweg 10
2991 LN Barendrecht