Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc, owner of the UK’s leading canned fruit brand, Del Monte®, has released its 2022 Sustainability Report, reaffirming its steadfast commitment to conserving the planet. For decades, Del Monte has been at the forefront of sustainable practices, focusing on reducing its emissions and food waste, and adopting regenerative agriculture and smart farming practices.
Del Monte is attributing the majority of its remarkable 26% decrease in Scope 1 and 2 emissions to optimising fertiliser usage, fuel consumption, and making adjustments to facility heating in 2022. This progress puts Del Monte at an impressive 94% completion rate toward its SBTi-approved reduction goal.
Hans Sauter, chief sustainability officer and senior vice president of research & development at Fresh Del Monte, said” “As a global agribusiness, sustainability is in our DNA and we recognise that urgent action is needed to continue strengthening our operations against the changing climate. Our unwavering commitment propels us to continually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimise water usage, combat food waste and reduce plastic consumption, among other critical actions that have a direct impact on our planet.
“We firmly believe that we can instigate transformative change and drive the adoption of innovative technologies for a more sustainable future. This journey requires ongoing investments and partnerships, and we recognise that the most substantial impact occurs when we collaborate.”
Maximising the use of renewable energy sources continues to be an essential part of Del Monte’s conservation focus, with 21%[7] of its global electricity consumption coming from renewable sources last year. Since the installation of solar panels at its Costa Rica banana operation in 2017, monthly kWh usage has been reduced by 46%. Additionally, the company planted 574,800 trees in 2022, with almost 30% of its owned farms now implementing regenerative agriculture farming practices[8].
Leading the fight against food waste, Del Monte diverted 93% of food waste from landfill in 2022. The company became the first grower to join the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment in 2022 and pledged to reduce food waste across its operations and serve as a model for others. The debut of the mini Honeyglow® pineapple last year, further strengthened the company’s dedication to customer satisfaction and commitment to the reduction of food waste as it responds to consumer preferences for a conveniently sized pineapple.
One of the biggest milestones achieved in 2022 was the launch of the Del Monte Zero™ Pineapple. A carbon-neutral pineapple that offsets carbon emissions from farm to market as certified by SCS Global Services[9]. After a comprehensive assessment of Fresh Del Monte’s Costa Rica pineapple production through shipment and sale to the North American and European markets, SCS Global Services confirmed the pineapples’ greenhouse gas emissions were negated by the reabsorption of Del Monte-owned forests, making the carbon footprint for Del Monte Zero™ pineapples net zero[10].
Across its portfolio, Del Monte aims to consistently reduce or eliminate unnecessary packaging, increase recycled content and further develop reusable and recyclable packaging programs. In 2022, it led the industry in developing and commercialising the first certified home compostable sticker for bananas sold in Europe. Over 50 million compostable stickers were generated in 2022 alone.
Del Monte’s 2022 full Sustainability Report can be found at https://freshdelmonte.com/sustainability-reports/
References:
[1] Goal: By 2030, reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions in alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative (reduce Scope 1 + 2 emissions by 27.5% compared to 2019 levels) 2022 update: Scope 1 & 2 at 26% reduction (currently at 94% of goal)
[2] Goal: By 2025, plant and/or donate 2,500,000 trees from a 2016 baseline 2022 update: 2,203,956 cumulative trees have been planted since 2016 (88% of goal)
[3] 51,081 Megatonnes (US measurement) of recycled content in 2022
[4] Goal: By 2030, reduce food loss and organic waste sent to landfill by 50% compared with our 2020 baseline 2022 update: currently at 41% reduction (82% of goal)
[5] The Zero-e Pineapple Has Arrived | Fresh Del Monte
[6] Del Monte led the industry in developing and commercialising the first certified home compostable sticker for bananas sold in Europe – it developed over 50 million compostable stickers in 2022
[7] 21% of electricity came from renewable sourced in 2022 – this sits alongside a 10% decrease in fuel consumption (per tone of product, compared to 2019 base year)
[8] 29.7% of Del Monte owned farms currently implement sustainable farming practices (Goal by 2023 is to implement regenerative and soil health management practices in 100% of owned and associated growers’ farms)
[9] SCS Global Services is a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development.
[10] The certification is the result of a long-standing program of carefully curated farms that incorporate conservation and reforestation areas to sequester CO2 in situ, a nature-based solution called insetting.
