Carbon neutral pineapple produced in Costa Rica is a finalist in world sustainability awards
With this variety of Fresh Del Monte, the carbon footprint is offset from its production to the moment of its consumption.
The Del Monte Zero™ pineapple, from the Fresh Del Monte company and produced exclusively in Costa Rica, stands out worldwide as it is among the finalists of the World Sustainability Awards 2023, to be held in October in Amsterdam.
These awards are given by Sustainability Leaders, a global community intelligence network for occupational safety managers and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) executives, designed to accelerate global sustainability initiatives, and through these awards, recognize the disruptors and creators of business changes in issues of this nature.
In the case of Fresh Del Monte with the Del Monte Zero™, it competes in the New Launch category, which applies to products or services launched in the last 12 months and that aim to have an immediate positive impact on consumers.
"At the end of 2022 we announced this product, which reached select markets in North America and Europe at the beginning of 2023, with the clear intention of contributing to the generation of sustainable awareness among our customers, encouraging them to support friendlier products. with the environment. Being considered for this award reaffirms that at Fresh Del Monte we are on the right path to achieve this goal," said Michael Calderón, spokesperson for Fresh Del Monte.
Knowing this variety. Del Monte Zero™ is Fresh Del Monte's first certified carbon neutral pineapple. Carbon neutrality means a balance between the emissions generated and positive activities such as compensation and reduction of the carbon footprint, resulting in that balance being equal to zero.
In the case of this pineapple, it is the result of various efforts that are mainly based on the improvement of the transport fleet, the constant monitoring of emissions, and the reabsorption, neutralization and compensation of the emissions produced by the more than 9,000 hectares. of forest that the company owns in our country, which include approximately 5 million trees that make it possible to generate that zero carbon footprint.
This validation as a sustainably grown fruit was given by a third party, specifically by third party certification body SCS Global Services, a world leader in verification, auditing, testing and standards development.
A great differentiator of Del Monte Zero™ is that it is carbon neutral 'from field to fork', this means that the entire production chain is taken into account and offsets the carbon footprint from production to the moment of consumption.
"Another hallmark is that this is a nature-based solution, known as embedding, not through the practice of buying carbon credits, which is common practice. To ensure that boxes of pineapple certified as carbon neutral continue to meet this credential, a trained group of Fresh Del Monte members track and measure these forests, thus validating that balance persists," added Calderón.
Additional recognitions. The company also recently received the 2023 SEAL Business Sustainability Award in the Environmental Initiative category.
This award honors companies and global leaders who make measurable contributions to sustainability and develop innovative initiatives that will have a lasting positive impact on the environment.
Fresh Del Monte was awarded for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 22.64% across its agricultural value chain. It was made possible by upgrading its ocean fleet with six new fuel-efficient vessels and incorporating solar and wind power facilities in California and Costa Rica, respectively.