Five key sustainability themes are expected to influence the future direction of the global fruit and vegetable sector, according to a recently-released report by Rabobank.
Do the right thing (right) – a special trend report for the international fresh produce industry, developed for the2020 Fruit Logistica trade event in Germany earlier this year – identified water, food waste, packaging, chemical use and energy as the most significant environmental and social sustainability issues facing the global fruit and vegetable sector.
The key themes had been identified via case study research and industry participant surveys with fruit and vegetable industry experts and stakeholders from across the globe, said report author, Netherlands-based RaboResearch horticultural analyst Cindy van Rijswick.
Within each of the themes, the surveyed industry participants cited a number of topics as the most relevant for their businesses.
Listen to Jamie Mackay's interview with Rabobank's senior horticulture and wine analyst Hayden Higgins about this report on The Country below:
Water
The key challenges related to water quantity and how it was used. This included water footprints for product groups and impacts of water use on other stakeholders in centres of production.
With food waste, the report looked at issues related to waste at the farm and processor level and how businesses could cut this down through better processes or planning and through better collaboration across supply chain partners.
Packaging
In the area of packaging, those surveyed believed it was important to understand the baseline of their current packing footprint and where that stood in terms of efficiency.
Organisations also felt it was important to consider practical changes that were immediate and cost-effective which could meet consumer demands.
Chemical use
With chemical use, industry participants felt chemical usage would continue to feature prominently as a target for reduction for healthier outcomes for consumers and the environment and that the industry should focus on using technology to aid in efficiencies as well as new more user-friendly products.
Biological controls and using bio diversity as a tool should also feature highly where practical for farming systems.
Energy
In the energy space, the key challenge related to how sustainable the production footprint was whether using gas, coal, sunlight, water, wind or geothermal energy.
Outside of production, the report said, packaging, transport and logistics, cool storage, food service and retail were all consumers of energy and entire supply chain strategies were required.
Finally, the report identified a six step plan for fruit and vegetable industry participants to follow on their "sustainability journey" - Mapping, Making Choices and a plan, Measuring, Managing, Monitoring and Making Public.
