Westfalia Fruit Group has taken another step towards carbon neutrality, achieving the One Carbon World Carbon Neutral International Standard for 15 of its businesses for 2020. 

According to a press release, the leading multinational supplier of avocados has counted its 2020 footprint with One Carbon World, a carbon footprint verification organization. It is also a recognized resource partner in the UN’s Climate Neutral Now initiative.

Westfalia branches in Peru, Colombia, South Africa and the Netherlands have also reached carbon neutral status under One Carbon World’s Carbon Neutral International Standard. Westfalia Fruit UK achieved a similar certification under the Carbon Trust, too. 

Johnathan Sutton, the company’s Group Safety & Environment Executive said that “as part of our ongoing commitment to the environment we work towards the wellbeing of the planet and are focused on climate change mitigation.”

“We are proud to receive this certification which is a step on the road to our long-term target to be ‘lifetime carbon neutral’ by 2049,” he continued. 

He described the company as “guardians of the environments and communities in which we operate, and our aim is to ensure our environmental commitments become an integral part of our day-to-day activities.”

“We seek ways to continually improve our environmental performance and operate in a responsible manner, by focusing on priorities such as reducing waste and making reductions in our carbon emissions,” he added.

In 2021, Westfalia reduced its carbon footprint per kilogram of fruit by 5%, waste to landfill by almost 9%, liquid fuel used by 26% and electricity usage by 4%. At the same time, it increased recycled waste by 28%, water use efficiency by 14% and own electricity generation by 50%.

Moreover, the avocado supplier has pioneered a low-flow drip irrigation technique which saves water used to grow crops. The approach is expected to bring an overall 50% efficiency boost in farms where it is implemented.

Although the company’s greenhouse gas emissions cannot currently be avoided, VERRA certified that they have been reduced. Through afforestation projects in South America, they have converted degraded grasslands into forest plantations.