Few of us have the resources to make a change that ripples through the very fabric of the earth’s ecosystem. If that sounds dramatic, it’s because the effects of one company’s decision to roadmap both the noun and action of “sustainability” have been just that—dramatic.
Before the internet took off, and with it, social media, Del Monte Fresh was already doing for the environment what brand influencers today are just beginning to catch on to. This company has answers where many might wonder what impact those moves have. Now, Del Monte Fresh wants to share its wisdom and resources with potential partners in conservation and be the catalyst for the next level of stewardship.
“We have been working on our sustainability initiatives for the past 30 years, and I have been intimately involved with them from the agricultural side in terms of looking for better ways of farming that are more friendly for the environment,” Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer, tells me.
That is more than just a title or a role—he is the first Chief Sustainability Officer in the company’s long history. “I think the development of this role shows the true commitment Del Monte has to sustainability and how to ensure all our goals are achieved,” he explains.
Following a carefully laid plan of multiple initiatives designed around four pillars of sustainability—products, communities, environment, and people—the company has found order in the vastness of the word, a word many throw around in relation to anything from a new packaging option to in-house operations and beyond.
“It’s sustainability as a whole, but it is also a strategy,” Dennis Christou, former Vice President of Marketing, clarifies. “Each pillar has a strategy behind it, which involves a number of different projects that support our communities, our people, consumers, and the planet. And all of it is very highly validated. Some initiatives fall under our pillar to bring fresher, healthier products, not only in the variety of products you see, but how they are being grown, certified, and so on. Others might be under our community or people pillar. I think a big part of this overall initiative is that it encompasses the environment, but it’s not just the environment.”
Diving into this further, we discuss how the movement to be more ecologically sound and environmentally responsible must be approached pragmatically in order to function, and Hans points out (as humbly as possible) that the same could be said for anything initiated under the Del Monte Fresh umbrella.
“A company of this size takes a lot of planning. We have programs underway all over the world, and trying to pull them all off succinctly must be done with a lot of coordination and communication. It is very exciting to see that happen,” Hans shares. “Keep in mind that we have rural operations all over the world, and that the same philosophy must be present throughout all those operations.”
And that strategy is growing in several new ways as the company seeks to spread what it has learned with others both inside and outside our industry.
“We are calling it A Better World Tomorrow—it is our vision. We have done it, we believe in it, and we are setting that example for our own suppliers, our own growers. We want to partner with other organizations because we have firsthand experience in this initiative. We believe, contrary to a lot of what you see in the news, there is a very positive impact we can have on Earth. Farms and ecosystems don’t always need to be perceived as incompatible. We need to farm in a way that aligns better with nature,” Hans emphasizes.
"We have programs underway all over the world, and trying to pull them all off succinctly must be done with a lot of coordination and communication. It is very exciting to see that happen."
Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer, Del Monte Fresh
Since initially announcing this intention in time for PMA Fresh Summit 2019, programs and partnerships have already begun to blossom. A key development, Hans explains to me, is one with SCS Global Services, which he says will be integral in the bottom-to-top approach the Del Monte Fresh team is encouraging. Why? To ensure all its employees feel empowered to take a part in the overarching initiative and therefore see it ripple throughout its network to everyone it can impact.
“We started a collaborative project with SCS to create a greenhouse gas emissions toolkit that will track individual greenhouse gas emissions of tropical and subtropical crops. Everything we are trying to achieve can’t be accomplished unless all individual operations know how many greenhouse gases they are producing. This awareness will help them identify how to then cope with and curb those emissions with specific actions,” Hans details.
The proprietary tool is planned to be ready by the second quarter of this year. When it is, it will be crucial in providing on-the-ground operations with the ability to find and share solutions with the whole organization, helping solidify what Hans says is always an elusive number.
This highlights another aspect of the roadmapped definition Del Monte Fresh is applying to the equally elusive idea of sustainability itself—one that encompasses not just acts of service and donations, but research and development, innovation, packaging, farming, and anything else I can think of, it seems.
“We are very busy right now rolling out all these programs, covering anything from water and soil conservation to smart farming, sustainable packaging, community programs, and much more,” Hans goes on. It’s clear that the very vastness of this initiative is exactly why Del Monte Fresh is suited to take on the challenge.
"It’s sustainability as a whole, but it is also a strategy."
Dennis Christou, Former Vice President of Marketing, Del Monte Fresh
The company is a partner to be reckoned with for any who seek to join the fight, as it continues to set and exceed goal after goal. The Del Monte Fresh team committed to delivering 300 different local sustainable initiatives by year 2025 and is already well into succeeding.
“Five years ago, we tasked ourselves with reducing our energy consumption per-pound of product and water consumption, and we achieved those ahead of our 2020 deadline. We reduced our energy consumption by 12 percent per-pound of product, and our water consumption by 20 percent per-pound of product,” Hans shares. “This is why we decided to come up with a report now, because we are setting new targets for 2025.”
Among these targets, the company is upgrading its fleet of ships to more fuel efficient vessels, reducing harmful emissions by 10 percent before 2025.
“As we transition to being more consumer-centric, we are finding a common thread between telling our story about sustainability and how it can also help us align with our consumer base. They are interested in our efforts and those actions,” he continues.
Dennis adds that the team has seen an increase in demand for such stories from its trade partners, and that the company is responding to that demand.
“In general we’ve seen that our retail partners have become more interested in increasing awareness and demand on the part of their consumers, who want to understand where their food is coming from. Especially for the younger consumers—food defines who they are. So, in the past, the retailer’s interest was to ensure the products were produced in a safe, sustainable manner, and now they want to get the story behind it. People want to relate to the farm, they want to relate to the environment,” he adds.
"For Del Monte Fresh, sustainability is not a PR exercise. [...] It is who we are, it is ingrained in our culture, and we hope by what we are doing we will inspire others."
Dennis Christou
In that comes one of the latest steps to Del Monte Fresh’s master plan—in-store, on-product sharing of what it is doing.
“To keep the momentum of communication, we are starting to share the stories we have through our pineapple packs. Though they can only show a fraction of our programs, eventually we can use that same medium to share some of the wonderful stories emerging from all of this hard work,” Hans shares, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
A favorite of these stories, for Hans and myself, shows how a farm and forest can work in harmony rather than wage against each other for space.
“We took on projects as ambitious as protecting 26,000 acres of forest, which is a mind-blowing figure. When we came back, we found over 1,000 species of plants and animals preserved,” Hans says. “You can see how forest and farm coexist side by side; we didn’t go out and buy a piece of the Amazon and neutralize our emissions on the farm. These are parts of our farms where we have set aside land to preserve water and wildlife, while operating the farm right there. Now, we are telling the story because, honestly, organizations have asked us why we haven’t.”
Likely because, as Dennis points out, it’s what the customer we all strive to serve seems to desire in the brands they patron. But it’s more of a serendipitous alignment than a business proposition.
“For Del Monte Fresh, sustainability is not a PR exercise. It is not a marketing tool. It is who we are, it is ingrained in our culture, and we hope by what we are doing we will inspire others. If we all work for a better world tomorrow, we will get there much faster. Everyone should be doing this and, hopefully, we will inspire others to follow,” he tells me.
Hans takes it a step further, declaring even Del Monte Fresh couldn’t achieve such aggressive goals without dividing the tasks. Therefore, there is no one individual to credit with the shift the company is looking to make in the world.
"We believe [...] there is a very positive impact we can have on the Earth."
Hans Sauter
“This is not an individual effort, and it is not a departmental effort. We are making sure that every employee within the company is getting involved with sustainability and our vision is to provide each entity with tools so they can individually create sustainability within their operations,” Hans concludes.
Knowledge is power. Intent on adding multiple layers to its existing legacy, Del Monte Fresh is spreading its learnings and its reach to any and all who want to maximize their role in reshaping the world.
As the team aligns itself with like-minded powers in produce, it will be exciting to see how these next steps will help our industry, and Mother Nature, thrive. 
