Frutura announces sustainability milestones

Peru-based Agrícola Don Ricardo (ADR) has become the first certified B Corp company in the Frutura Group. Frutura announced the news as it released its inaugural Impact Statement, presenting the platform’s sustainability vision, objectives and baseline data that will serve as an important accountability tool to measure progress.

Frutura said other companies in the group are working to attain B Corp Certification in 2025.

“I lay credit for ADR’s sustainability culture at the feet of Ricardo Briceño (ADR’s founder and board chair), a true visionary,” said Frutura CEO David Krause. “When I first visited Ricardo, he took me around to see the scale and scope of ADR’s sustainability work. I can tell you, it was humbling. All Frutura companies have enjoyed the benefit of ADR’s head start in impact.”

Frutura has also been developing a platform-wide sustainability management strategy and governance infrastructure. The company’s Impact Collaboration Framework is managed by a team of sustainability specialists and senior leaders across business units.

Baselines have been calculated around employee demographics, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions among multiple social and environmental metrics. Frutura said 2025 goals have now been set and performance-tracking methodology is in place – although the company acknowledged that much more work remains to be done in the journey to achieve their vision of being a “Force for Good”.

Frutura’s vice president of sustainability Jesse Last, who directs the platform’s impact efforts, commented: “Frutura was crafted to build a future of fruit that is global and sustainable. Being impact-driven was not an ‘add-on’ at Frutura. We were established to work toward finding sustainable solutions in large-scale farming. Frutura is a mission-driven company and sustainability is a priority mission. Period”.

In addition to ADR’s new B Corp certification, Frutura said it has made progress within several areas in its platform.

For example, Frutura companies have collectively diverted nearly 60 per cent of waste that might typically be sent to landfills, as well as almost 400,000 lbs of food donated to underserved communities in the regions where the company operates.

In terms of soil and biodiversity, the group has achieved 100 per cent GlobalGAP certification for the fruit grown on Frutura owned and operated farms.

 With regard to energy, Frutura companies have now met 25 per cent of their energy consumption usage with renewable energy. This includes hundreds of kilowatts of solar capacity across Chile and the US, with 200+ more kW coming online at Dayka & Hackett’s California packing facility next year.

Finally, Frutura completed a Greenhouse Gas Protocol-aligned footprint that includes Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions come from the platform’s value chain and represent over 90 per cent of the total, meaning Frutura will collaborate with growers, packaging suppliers, logistics providers and retailers to reduce them. The global sales and marketing platform said this footprint would serve as a baseline for reducing emissions in the years ahead.