A ground-breaking project that aims to set up a carbon neutral supply chain for bananas and pineapples supplied from Costa Rica to Europe and the US was launched last week.

Dole Food Company Inc has signed an agreement with its producer Standard

Fruit de Costa Rica and, with the aid of the National Forestry Financing Fund

(FONIAFIFO), they aim to recapture carbon dioxide through practices that

mitigate the offset of carbon emissions.

The CO2 released in producing, packing, transporting and distributing the fruit will be counter-balanced by new and more efficient transportation methods, changes to agricultural processes, work with local farmers to implement preservation and new reforestation programmes.

David DeLorenzo, president and chief executive officer of Dole Food Company

Inc, said the environment was a concern for everyone along the supply chain. “Companies, consumers, governments and non-governmental organisations

should endeavour to promote and adopt new production and distribution methods

in order to reverse harmful trends to the environment,” he said. “Dole is

determined to take the lead in its sector and the agreement with FONIAFIFO is a

good starting point.”

Roberto Bobles, minister for environment and energy in Costa Rica, hoped the help of a large company like Dole will enable Costa Rica to benefit the

environment on a global level. “We are very enthusiastic that Standard Fruit

made the decision to become a carbon neutral company here in Costa Rica and

join our efforts to become the first carbon neutral country in the world by 2021. I hope that this initiative will be followed by others in the private sector, so that we may unite efforts in favour of the environment.”

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