The latest edition of Fyffes biennial ‘Sustainability Report’, covering the period 2023 to 2024, highlights the global banana and fruit producers’ major sustainability advances despite global uncertainty.
With proactive responses to increasing environmental challenges, Fyffes has achieved and surpassed many of its sustainability targets.
Fyffes has advanced responsible water stewardship, by ensuring that 100% of its own operations are covered by a certified water management plan.
Turning to packaging, 99.6% is already recyclable, reusable, or compostable. Fyffes has also reached its food loss target by repurposing 80% of post-harvest food waste.
Fyffes has also well surpassed its goal of donating five million healthy meals to vulnerable communities, reaching a number of over 27 million meals to date. The achievement of this target means even more in the current global cost-of-living crisis where the demand for foodbanks has increased exponentially.
Fyffes takes a proactive approach to climate change, last year undertaking a comprehensive, independent climate change risk assessment to better understand the current and future impacts of climate change on its growing regions. This assessment confirmed Fyffes’ experience that Fyffes own farms, and those of their growers, are already facing some of the most severe impacts of climate change, including more frequent tropical storms, increased rainfall and heat, and a rise in pests and fungal outbreaks. Fyffes is responding proactively by investing in innovative mitigation and resilience measures.
Fyffes reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions in CO2 eq./kg of fruit harvested by 12.05%, driven by initiatives such as switching to lower-nitrogen fertilisers and modernising its agrochemicals application equipment, and is determined to achieve its Science Based Target initiative (SBTi)-endorsed greenhouse gas reduction target for Scope 1 and 2.
Fyffes has also trained 100% of its employees on human rights and has introduced human rights training for suppliers. The producer has also conducted independent Human Rights Impact Assessments at supplier sites in Costa Rica and at Fyffes-owned farms in Belize.
Speaking at the launch of the report today CEO Helge Sparsoe said:
“At a time of significant global uncertainty and with climate change severely impacting growing conditions, I am extremely proud of what our team has achieved through innovative approaches and lateral thinking. We are at the forefront of sustainability in our sector, always at the ready for our customers current and future sustainable and ethical supply chain requirements. Despite these challenges and the increasing regulatory differences in sustainability policy in consumer markets, we are steadfast in our commitment to Shaping Wellbeing for the World, both for people and planet.”
The current sustainability targets, which span the decade 2020 – 2030, were conceived in 2019/2020 when embedding sustainable and ethical performance into everything Fyffes does was established as a core value and strategy.
The latest report, which covers activity in years 2023/2024, reports on what Helge Sparsoe says is “a pivotal year for Fyffes marking the halfway point in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, our 2030 Sustainability Strategy and our corporate strategy.”
Fyffes has been shortlisted for the Reuters SDG Pioneer Award and the UK Fresh Awards Sustainability Supply Chain Award.
Read the full Fyffes Sustainability Report here
Watch the video highlights here
