Refreshed Sustainability Strategy is built around four core priorities, with measurable progress already recorded across international operations
Westfalia Fruit has launched an updated global sustainability strategy which it says is built around four priorities of efficient water use, carbon management, waste reduction, and biodiversity protection.
According to the group, the plan is already in place across the business, with the share of renewable electricity in the company’s operations rising from 18 per cent in 2021 to 58 per cent in 2025.
The company is also working with growers and other international fresh produce companies on water in Chile’s Aconcagua Valley, it pointed out.
Its updated Sustainability Strategy document ”reflects where Westfalia Fruit wants to go as a business”, it continued.
”As the company sharpens its focus on avocados, it wants to lead on the issues that matter most for the future of the category, from water and climate to biodiversity, and give customers credible evidence of its progress,” Westfalia stated.
”Developed with specialist support from NewForesight, the strategy is shaped by where the business has the greatest impact and by what customers, retailers and regulators expect.
”Each business unit has its own roadmap for water, carbon, waste and biodiversity, based on the risks and opportunities in its region, with carbon linked to the group’s long-term target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2049,” the group said.
Westfalia’s renewable electricity consumption reached 34,653 MWh last year, supported by both on-site solar generation and certified renewable electricity purchased through instruments such as I-RECs and guarantees of origin.
With its share of renewable electricity increasing, the transition contributed to a ~50 per cent reduction in Scope 2 emissions over the 2021-2025 period.
Several packhouses across the UK, Peru, Chile, the US and France now operate on 100 per cent renewable electricity, it confirmed.
On its farms, Westfalia said it has partnered with One Carbon World to measure how much carbon is stored in its trees and soil.
Baselines have been established on eight farms in Chile, Peru and South Africa, giving the company a clearer picture of the role its orchards play in its overall carbon balance.
In Chile’s Aconcagua Valley, one of the country’s important fruit-growing regions, Westfalia is a partner in the Wave Aconcagua Collective Action Project.
Since 2021, the project has brought together 15 producers, international fresh produce companies, government and technical partners to tackle risks that no single farm can solve on its own, such as water scarcity, soil health and biodiversity loss.
“Sustainability has been part of how we farm from the very beginning,” said Johnathan Sutton, chief R&D and sustainability officer at Westfalia Fruit.
“What is different now is that we measure it site by site and act on what we find.
”Going from 18 per cent to 58 per cent of renewable electricity shows what that approach can do,” he explained.
”We want to bring the same discipline to water, carbon, waste and biodiversity, working closely with growers, customers and partners as we go.”
The same roadmaps cover waste and biodiversity, Westfalia said.
In South Africa, for example, customer fulfilment centres in Midrand are moving to 100 per cent recyclable packaging for avocado and mango products by the end of 2026.
On biodiversity, reforestation and pollination work in Peru is helping to restore natural ecosystems in the regions where the company grows.
”For customers, the strategy means clearer information on how their fruit is produced: what has already been achieved, what is still being built and where working together can speed up progress,” Westfalia added.
”The same long-term thinking shapes how Westfalia Fruit works with growers and their communities, from its own orchards to partnerships with smallholder growers.”
