California Giant Berry Farms is celebrating this Earth Day, although for the growers and staff, every day is Earth Day.
As a company, California Giant is leading the way in the produce industry with their sustainability efforts around Sustainably Grown, Bee Better and TRUE Zero Waste certifications.
“We have always been focused on having a sustainable business that cares for the environment and for the hardworking people that make it possible. We support our grower-partners in their efforts to farm for the future and set that path with the company’s three pillar approach to sustainability: People, Planet and Profit,” shared Eric Valenzuela, Director of Food Safety & Sustainability for California Giant.
Growing sustainably with the Earth’s future in mind is a priority for the growers at California Giant. Standards include a full spectrum of sustainable agriculture practices that cover environmental, social, economic, and business transparency.
“As stewards of the land, we are extremely proud of the hard work our growers have put into their sustainable efforts. In fact, our strategic grower-partner, Satsuma Farms who grows on California Giant owned land, became the first Sustainably Grown Certified strawberry operation in the world last year and now we have two additional farms well on their way to achieving this same certification by the Fall,” said Valenzuela.
Always striving to be better, California Giant’s grower-partners understand the vital role that bees play in pollinating, especially blueberries. As a result, many of the company’s blueberry fields are Bee Better Certified, which acknowledges a commitment to keep pollinator habitats safe, while encouraging healthy populations.
“One way that we could exemplify our dedication to sustainability to our growers was to walk the walk and set a goal for our company headquarters to become zero waste certified,” shared Valenzuela. “Doing so meant that the building had to achieve a minimum 90% diversion rate for solid, non-hazardous waste away from landfill. Our TRUE Gold for Zero Waste certificate validates our efforts and will keep us all accountable as we set our sights on Platinum.”
Among these earth-friendly certifications, California Giant continues to find additional opportunities to be sustainable, which include modifications to its packaging. “Our goal is to benefit not only the environment, but the supply chain and handling of the berries as well,” said Thomas Taggart, VP of Operations for California Giant.
“It’s been crucial that any material edits made do not compromise the performance of the growers nor the quality of their fruit.” Design modifications include overall material and weight reduction of corrugate and resin, in addition to label conversion from paper to BOPP for improved recyclability of the clamshell. The company is a member of How2Recycle and will soon be including the program’s communication on the clamshell’s label.
