Environmental Footprint Initiative agrees on measurement methodology and moves to implementation phase across fresh produce business
A project that aims to provide companies and consumers with a standardised way to measure environmental footprints in the fresh produce sector has reached an important milestone with the publication of what are referred to as Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules – FreshProducePEFCR for short.
The Environmental Footprint Initiative, coordinated by European industry association Freshfel Europe, was set up in 2022 to develop FreshProducePEFCR in response to tighter EU regulation on environmental reporting.
The rules cover 16 different measurements on a product’s environmental impact, ranging from water to land use.
Technical work on the methodology at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands came to a close at the end of 2025.
During workshops on energy allocation in Combined Heat Power systems, Freshfel said, consensus was reached between life cycle analysis experts, growers, and other stakeholders on the best way to measure carbon footprint – essentially by means of something called exergy allocation, a method used to divide fuel input and environmental impacts between the electricity and heat produced.
The FreshProducePEFCR has now been published and is available from WUR’s library as well as the Freshfel website.
“As the development phase of the methodology comes to an end, the project now moves to the next step for the FreshProducePEFCR: its adoption and implementation by the wide variety of actors in the fresh produce business,” a spokesperson for Fresh said, adding that further consultations with technology providers and retailers were planned for the coming weeks.
The project’s technical development group comprises Freshfel Europe, WUR’s Social & Economic Research department, Dutch Fresh Produce Centre (GroentenFruit Huis), Greenyard, Dole, Mérieux Nutrisciences / Blonk, and PRé Sustainability.
Other Freshfel members participating in the initiative include: Ailimpo (Spain), ANPP (France), Apeel (US), Assomela (Italy), Bama (Norway), Bayer (Germany), BVEO (Germany), Colead (France), Greenyard (Belgium), IG International (India), Interfel (France), VBT (Belgium), and Zespri (New Zealand).
