ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Ethical Charter Implementation Program and its sponsors — Windset Farms, GoodFarms and Stemilt Growers — hosted the 2026 Leadership Circle Celebration during the International Fresh Produce Association’s recent Global Produce and Floral Show. The celebration recognized the 34 supplier companies that have earned all five stars in the online ECIP Learn, Assess, Benchmark platform since the new engagement criteria were introduced in July.
During the event, representatives from Costco, Kroger, Sam’s Club and Walmart spoke about the program and celebrated the work of the companies in the ECIP Leadership Circle.
ECIP’s Learn, Assess and Benchmark is an online platform designed by Equitable Food Initiative for growers, suppliers and buyers to create engagement with and alignment to the principles of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices throughout the produce supply chain. Suppliers and their growers are invited by their retail buyers to use this interactive tool to assess current practices and management systems, access resources and review information around best practices.
An engagement profile tracks each grower’s and supplier’s ongoing interaction with the tool to encourage and support continuous improvement, according to ECIP. Suppliers and their retail customers see aggregated, anonymized data from their supply chain.
Companies that have already earned a spot in the 2026 ECIP Leadership Circle include: AMFRESH North America, Bay Baby Produce, Bee Sweet, Blue River Legacy Farms, Bobalu Berry Farms, Bonipak, Bostock North America, Bridges Organic Produce, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Dole South Africa, Eagle Eye Produce, Equifruit, Favorita USA Corp., Five Crowns, Fresh Express, Fresh Flavor International, Freshway Produce, The Fruitist, Fyffes, GLC Cerritos, Gold Cup Fresh, GoodFarms, Homegrown Organic Farms, Kingsburg Orchards, Mastronardi, Miami Agro Import, Misionero, Naturipe, Oppy, Pacific Produce, Stemilt Growers, Sunridge Farms, Superfresh Growers, Titan Farms, Westmoreland Sales/Topline Farms, William H. Kopke Jr. Inc. and Windset Farms.
“Momentum is building around ECIP, and we are encouraged by the engagement and commitment we’re seeing from retailers, suppliers and growers,” says Kenton Harmer, director of market-based impact for Equitable Food Initiative. “With the changes in ECIP LAB this year — Engagement 2.0 and introduction of the Supplier Gold Star — we have raised the bar for what meaningful engagement looks like, and this year’s Leadership Circle demonstrates that suppliers are rising to the occasion.
“Since the first Leadership Circle was announced in 2024, the number of participating supplier companies has grown steadily, even as qualification thresholds have increased,” Harmer continues.
Created in alignment with the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices and facilitated by Equitable Food Initiative, ECIP is a collaboration among retailers, grower-shippers and implementing organizations to recognize and strengthen engagement around labor practices in the fresh produce industry, highlight existing best-practice efforts and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
ECIP, which marked its second anniversary at the IFPA show, says it has experienced continued growth in supplier and grower engagement and expanded buyer participation in the last two years.
The program is built around self-assessment that ECIP says avoids the burden of an additional audit. Through an assessment tool and capacity-building resources, it helps measure and strengthen alignment with the principles of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices.
Launched with initial funding from the Walmart Foundation and administered by Equitable Food Initiative, the program is overseen by an advisory group composed of leading buyers and suppliers and key stakeholders, including representatives from AgSocio, Bonduelle Fresh Americas, Costco Wholesale, Kroger, McDonald’s USA, Naturipe, Sam’s Club, Tanimura & Antle, Target, Taylor Farms and Walmart.
More information about the program can be found at ethicalcharterprogram.org.
