Chilean avocado grower and packer, Cabilfrut, S.A., announced today that the company has exported its first avocados from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms from Chile to the European market. Two containers of fruit left the Port of Valparaiso on December 1, and will arrive in Rotterdam in time for the Christmas holidays. Receivers of the fruit are Greenyard and OGL.
Rainforest Alliance certification shows that Cabilfrut was able to comply with the rigorous certification standards that address impacts on the local environment, workers’ rights and conservation of natural resources.
Three individual farms became Rainforest Alliance Certified™ — Agricola Pililen Ltda, Agricola Huerto Cancarucas Ltda and Agricola La Loica Ltda. Two additional farms have been audited and are awaiting final certification, as well as six additional farms that are preparing for audits in 2018. Overall, these farms represent 300 hectares of certified fruit for 2017, with an additional 2,000 hectares slated for certification in 2018.
Sandra Alvarez Rojas, Cabilfrut’s Quality Control and Certification Manager, worked diligently to ensure the certifications were obtained in a timely manner to provide European clients with Rainforest Alliance Certified™ fruit before the end of 2017. According to Alvarez, “This is an important certification and our work with these farms and others will continue to expand. We worked closely with Diego Verdesia from Greenyard and Mauricio Ferro Rettig from CyD Certifiers. Their expertise streamlined the entire process in obtaining the certifications.”
Sandra Alvarez Rojas, Cabilfrut’s Quality Control and Certification Manager
According to Juan Pablo Cerda, Cabilfrut’s President, the process of certification was very extensive, but something that he felt was important for the European market. “Earning the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal for our ranches helps to ensure our buyers and final consumers that we are complying with comprehensive standards that take into account conserving natural resources, agricultural sustainability and protecting people at all levels in the supply chain,” said Cerda.
Contact:
Juan Pablo Cerda L.
CABILFRUT S.A.
Tel: +56-2-28360800