AgroFresh

AgroFresh Sustainability Week

AgroFresh paves its way to a more sustainable future

AgroFresh combines deep scientific knowledge with industry know-how to extend shelf life of the best-tasting produce, reduce food waste and conserve the planet’s resources. Supporting this mission and the company’s continued effort to help the well-being of the planet, AgroFresh hosted its annual Sustainability Week initiative from September 28-October 2, inviting employees to prioritize sustainability both personally and in their careers.

Employees from global offices including Wenatchee, Yakima, Philadelphia, Valencia, Paris and Brazil focused their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. During the week-long event, hundreds of AgroFresh employees collectively embraced the responsibility to better the planet by adhering to various sustainable practices such as maintaining a vegan diet, starting an urban bee farm, diverting food surplus, composting food scraps and replacing appliances with more energy-efficient models, among other measures.

Food waste being one of the foremost challenges to worldwide sustainability, several AgroFresh employees also honored the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations  International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on September 29, to bolster efforts in food waste reduction in their communities and beyond.

In addition to other eco-friendly activities that took place across remote offices, AgroFresh’s

Yakima Service Center saved, hauled and recycled all cardboard and paper products, keeping it out of the landfill. AgroFresh’s Paris office met and exceeded its sustainability goal by recycling 2,450 kilograms of paper, cups and coffee capsules and donated 0.05 EUR per kilogram to a social reintegration association.

In an effort to promote sustainability to a wide-ranging audience, the employee submissions from this green initiative were documented across AgroFresh’s Twitter and LinkedIn channels with the hashtag #FreshSustainability.

Formalized commitment to sustainability

For more than 20 years, AgroFresh has been providing technical experience and hands-on support for fruit and vegetable growers and packers. This pioneering combination of science, expertise and support became the SmartFresh Quality System. To support its customers with solutions and technologies that benefit the efficiency of their operations and the well-being of the planet, AgroFresh formalized and strengthened its decades-long commitment to sustainability in 2019, quantifying the impact of its SmartFresh Quality System and seeking ways to improve it further. The company commissioned an independent study in the U.S., France and Italy – three of the world’s largest apple producers.

In addition to prolonging freshness and extending shelf life, data-backed research into AgroFresh’s industry-leading SmartFresh solution found that it also had a direct impact on decreasing food waste and preserving the earth’s resources. From 2002-2018, 259,500 metric tons of apple waste was diverted in the U.S., France and Italy alone, which equates to more than 2.5 million metric tons of water. Improving the apple supply chain in those three countries during the same period equated to taking more than 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) out of the air. In other countries throughout the world, SmartFresh food waste reduction was equivalent to reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 342,000 metric tons. In France and Italy, packers reported a 23% reduction in waste. In the U.S., packers reported a 31-39% reduction.

Looking ahead

As AgroFresh brings the fresh produce industry solutions to their problems, the company always considers how its technologies will promote sustainability and better planet health. Around the world, AgroFresh continues to develop and offer products and technologies to reduce food loss and waste from the pre-harvest stage to the kitchen table.

While AgroFresh has long been a leading provider of solutions that reduce food waste and honor the planet, the company and its people have an even greater appreciation for what the future needs from them. Following the measurable impact of SmartFresh, AgroFresh continues to act on its commitment to sustainability through continuous and consistent investment in research and development that furthers the company’s mission, while ingraining sustainable values across the company’s culture.

At AgroFresh, sustainability is both an ethos and a global business. As the fresh produce industry continues to evolve, AgroFresh remains committed to close collaboration to help address challenges and continue delivering consumer-preferred fruits and vegetables to the world, so that one day food loss and waste is no longer a problem to be overcome.