Westfalia Fruit said is has achieved Carbon Measured Certification for its South Africa avocados that are sold in the UK, along with its range of other products sold in S.A., including avocado, avocado oil and guacamole products.
Westfalia, which had been in consultation with global experts on climate change, said it has made a strong commitment to sustainability throughout the supply chain, seeking “better ways of working to the benefit of our planet.” Its mission has been to identify hot spots within the chain.
“Our business is directly impacted by the complexities of climate change,” says CEO of Westfalia Fruit Group, Alk Brand. “We realise the need for mass action in tackling this challenge. This is why we have chosen to work in collaboration with several like-minded companies, such as the Carbon Trust, in analysing the impact of our products. This is just one of the steps we are taking in our ongoing commitment to the environment and sustainability that should culminate in us becoming ‘lifetime carbon neutral’ by 2049.”
To qualify for that Carbon Trust Product Footprint label, Westfalia’s footprint must be ensured from business to consumer and adhere to PAS 2050 specifications, which assess the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of its products.
“We have worked with Westfalia Fruit on its sustainability agenda since 2019,” Hugh Jones, Managing Director at Carbon Trust Advisory said. “It’s great to have certified the product carbon footprint of Westfalia’s SA-market products and UK-market avocados to the Carbon Measured label as part of its sustainability journey.”
Sustainability is an overarching part of Westfalia’s commitment to the environment that includes measured farming practices and production processes, water-conservation policies and no-waste approach on its estates. Not only does it carefully select cultivars suited to specific regions and climates, but it limits the use of chemicals and is continually working on safe, biological pest control programs. It then ensures that it workforce is educated on these practises.
“Our aim is to ensure our environmental commitments become an integral part of our day-to-day activities,” says Johnathan Sutton, Westfalia Fruit Group Safety and Environmental Executive. “We are actively seeking ways to continually improve our environmental performance.”
The process for assuring a singular product’s carbon cycle is sustainable is daunting. Avocados, for example, must be assessed from seeds to young trees in the nursery.
“The transport of trees to the orchard, energy use and pest and disease controls used in the orchards, upstream transport of farm inputs, packaging emissions from material, and emissions from the disposal of packaging and organic waste all must be all considered,” the company says.
