Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. announced the upcoming launch of the Del Monte Zero™ pineapple, its first carbon-neutral certified pineapple, which factors in the entire supply chain from farm to table, in its North American and select European markets. Using a limited percentage of the company’s total pineapple volumes, the pineapple is a product line extension from the Del Monte Gold®, HoneyGlow® and Del Monte “The Original” pineapple varieties, grown in Costa Rica and certified as sustainably grown by third-party certification body SCS Global Services.
SCS Global Services is a third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing and standards development firm. After an assessment of Fresh Del Monte’s Costa Rica pineapple production through shipment and sale to the North American and European markets, it determined that these pineapples’ greenhouse gas emissions have been negated by the reabsorption of Fresh Del Monte-owned forests, making those pineapples’ carbon footprint net zero.
The limited-availability, carbon-neutral certified Del Monte Zero™ Pineapple, will be available to North American and select European consumers in early 2023. It was accomplished through a program of carefully curated farms that incorporate conservation and reforestation areas to sequester CO2. Creating this solution, also known as insetting, is part of a larger commitment the company has made to combating climate change. In addition, investments in upgrading its transportation fleet and reducing greenhouse gas emissions enabled Fresh Del Monte to achieve this milestone. The company’s 8,000+ hectare forest containing approximately five million trees neutralizes emissions produced by the pineapple. A trained group of team members tracks and measures the company’s forests biannually to ensure the amount of certified carbon-neutral pineapple boxes equates to the carbon dioxide sequestered through such conservation activities.
“Going beyond the farm to include emissions from inland and oceanic transportation, distribution and commercialization is a major step in helping the environment,” said Hans Sauter, chief sustainability office, senior vice president, R&D and agricultural services.
SCS certification was achieved by all eight of the company’s Costa Rican pineapple farms that export to either Europe or North America. The pineapple will be labeled as carbon neutral certified by SCS.
“These pineapples set an important new benchmark for the global fresh produce industry,” said Stan Rhodes, president and CEO, SCS Global Services. “They have not only demonstrated adherence to extremely rigorous principles of social responsibility, environmental and governance performance but have also focused on increasing carbon storage on the lands they own and manage, while simultaneously minimizing their GHG emissions, to achieve carbon neutral certification.”
With this launch, Fresh Del Monte hopes to expand its carbon-neutral practices to other fruits.
For more information:
Claudia Pou
Fresh Del Monte
communications@freshdelmonte.com
https://freshdelmonte.com/