The Del Monte Zero pineapple, produced exclusively in Costa Rica by Fresh Del Monte, stands out worldwide as one of the finalists in the World Sustainability Awards 2023, to be held in October in Amsterdam.

These awards are given by Sustainability Leaders, a global community intelligence network for occupational safety and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) executives, designed to accelerate global sustainability initiatives, and which, through these awards, recognize business disruptors and change-makers in sustainability issues.

The Del Monte Zero brand competes in the new launch category, which applies to products or services launched in the last 12 months that aim to have an immediate positive impact on consumers. 

"At the end of 2022, we announced this product, which reached select markets in North America and Europe at the beginning of 2023, with the clear intention of contributing to the generation of sustainable awareness among our customers, encouraging them to support more environmentally friendly products. Being contemplated for this award reaffirms that at Fresh Del Monte we are on the right path to achieve this goal," says Michael Calderon, spokesperson for Fresh Del Monte.

Getting to know this variety

Del Monte Zero is Fresh Del Monte's first certified carbon-neutral pineapple. Carbon neutrality means a balance between emissions generated and positive activities such as offsetting and reducing the carbon footprint, resulting in that balance being equal to zero.

This pineapple is the result of efforts based mainly on the improvement of the transportation fleet, the constant monitoring of emissions, and the reabsorption, neutralization, and compensation of the emissions produced by the 22,000 acres of forest that the company owns in Costa Rica, which include approximately five million trees that allow generating that zero carbon footprint.

This validation as a sustainably-grown fruit was granted by a third party -  the external certification body SCS Global Services - which is a world leader in verification, auditing, testing, and standards development.

A major differentiator of Del Monte Zero is that it is carbon neutral 'from field to table', this means that it takes into account the entire production chain and offsets the carbon footprint from production to the moment of consumption.

"Another hallmark is that this is a nature-based solution, known as insertion, not through the practice of buying carbon credits, which is the common practice. To ensure that pineapple boxes certified as carbon neutral continue to meet this credential, a trained group of Fresh Del Monte members track and measure these forests, validating that this balance persists," Calderon adds.

Additional recognitions 

The company also recently received the 2023 SEAL Business Sustainability Award in the Environmental Initiative category. 

This award honors companies and global leaders that make measurable contributions to sustainability and develop innovative initiatives that will have a lasting positive impact on the environment.

Fresh Del Monte reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22.64% across its agricultural value chain. It was made possible by upgrading its ocean fleet with six new fuel-efficient vessels and incorporating solar and wind energy facilities in California and Costa Rica, respectively.