The US fresh produce grower has documented improvements across safety, productivity and workforce stability
Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) has highlighted measurable safety, engagement and workforce retention gains achieved by US-based Stemilt Growers through its implementation of EFI’s Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured certification programme, demonstrating how structured worker engagement drives operational performance.
Six years after earning its first EFI certification, Stemilt conducted a comprehensive review of its internal processes and workforce data to evaluate the long-term impact of EFI’s training and collaborative model.
The results show sustained improvements across key business and workforce indicators and are featured in a new case study on EFI’s website.
Over the past several seasons, Stemilt strengthened its safety performance, recording multiple months with zero injuries and bringing its overall incident rate below the Washington state OSHA average.
In addition, employee engagement scores improved 10 per cent between 2022 and 2024, per person productivity increased by 16 per cent since 2021, and handling damage was cut in half in the past year.
“We’ve not only seen a 15 per cent reduction in workplace injuries, but have also experienced a significant lift in efficiency, with improved measures in pounds of fruit packed per hour, labour cost per acre and rejection rate,” said West Mathison, president of Stemilt Growers.
“These indicators are all the intended consequences from our commitment to engaging people in the work and focusing on how to get better.”
With engagement rising, workforce stability has also strengthened, the group pointed out.
Stemilt reports a 96 per cent return rate among its 1,600 H-2A workers and an 80 per cent return rate among local seasonal workers.
Year-round employees average 9.3 years of tenure, and more than US$800,000 has been paid to workers in bonuses through the EFI certification programme.
Many improvements originated directly from EFI’s worker-manager collaborative teams, Stemilt confirmed.
Employees helped redesign field water access systems, implement dedicated traffic lanes and pedestrian safety measures in facilities, upgrade ergonomics in packhouses and address ladder and slip-related risks through targeted training and inspections.
“Bringing EFI into our operations has been essential in training our workforce, especially around soft skills, like collaborating to find solutions and holding up ideas for doing things better,” said Brianna Shales, director of marketing at Stemilt Growers.
“The changes might be small in nature, but they add up to build engagement, trust and overall growth of our people.”
“Stemilt has shown incredible commitment to high standards, and not just with their consistently high rate of compliance to EFI’s rigorous certification, but with their commitment to the whole human,” said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, director of marketing and communications at EFI.
“Their dedication goes beyond any audit, embracing a unique approach in agriculture to help workers show up and be their best selves.”
Kevin Boyle, EFI’s director of workforce and organisational development, added: “Every person that I have worked with at Stemilt, from the orchards to the headquarters, values relationships.
”There is a shared core belief that people are the key to high performance, that they are the problem solvers and should be valued,” he added. “That value is having a direct impact across the operation.”
