Zero emission fruit? Fresh Del Monte says yes, launching first carbon neutral pineapple

Miami-based vertically integrated producer and marketer Fresh Del Monte Produce is launching its first carbon neutral certified pineapple, Del Monte Zero.

Using a limited percentage of the company’s total pineapple volumes, the Del Monte Zero pineapple is a new product line extension from the Del Monte Gold, HoneyGlow and Del Monte original pineapple varieties. Del Monte Zero pineapple is grown in Costa Rica and certified as sustainably grown and carbon neutral certified by third-party certification body SCS Global Services, according to a news release.

“Fresh Del Monte Zero pineapples set an important new benchmark for the global fresh produce industry,” Stan Rhodes, president and CEO of SCS Global Services, said in the release. “They have not only demonstrated adherence to extremely rigorous principles of social responsibility, environmental, and governance performance but have also focused on increasing carbon storage on the lands they own and manage, while simultaneously minimizing their GHG emissions, to achieve carbon neutral certification. In doing so, they are confronting the climate crisis head-on.”

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The limited-availability, carbon neutral certified Del Monte Zero Pineapple will be available to North American consumers in early 2023. The launch was accomplished through a long-standing program of carefully curated farms that incorporate conservation and reforestation areas to sequester CO2. Creating this nature-based solution, also known as insetting, is part of a larger commitment the company has made to combating climate change, according to the release.

“Going beyond the farm to include emissions from inland and oceanic transportation, distribution, and commercialization is a major step in helping the environment,” Hans Sauter, chief sustainability officer and senior vice president of research and development and agricultural services at Fresh Del Monte, said in the release. “We hope that the Del Monte Zero pineapples not only generate awareness among our customers, current and future partners but also provide consumers with a unique opportunity to support climate-conscious produce.”

Additionally, investments in transportation fleet and reducing greenhouse gas emissions enabled Fresh Del Monte to achieve the milestone, according to the release. The company’s 8,000-plus hectare forest containing approximately five million trees neutralizes emissions — from farm to table — produced by the Del Monte Zero pineapple.

A trained group of Fresh Del Monte team members tracks and measures the company’s forests biannually to ensure the amount of certified carbon-neutral pineapple boxes equates to the carbon dioxide sequestered through such conservation activities, the release said.

SCS Global Services, a third-party environmental and sustainability verification and certification organization, assessed Fresh Del Monte’s Costa Rica pineapple production through shipment and sale to the North American and European markets. The organization determined that the Del Monte Zero pineapples’ greenhouse gas emissions have been negated by the reabsorption of Fresh Del Monte-owned forests, making those pineapples’ carbon footprint net zero, according to the release.

SCS certification was achieved by all eight of Fresh Del Monte’s Costa Rican pineapple farms that export to either Europe or North America. With this launch, Fresh Del Monte hopes to be able to expand its carbon neutral practices to other fruits and partner with more customers to join in on the effort to bring more certified sustainably grown products to the world, according to the release.