IRWINDALE, CA - Bonduelle Fresh Americas has made good on its committment to sustainability announced in 2019, recently highlighting its accomplishments in 2020 with the release of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report. The initial commitment made two years ago also outlined its goal of becoming B Corp certified by 2025. The company has made strong progress on two-thirds of the 21 goals it set out to accomplish by 2025, with two goals already achieved ahead of schedule.

“There is no one solution for the global challenges we face, and no single person, company, or organization that can solve all the problems at hand,” said Guillaume Debrosse, Chief Executive Officer of the Bonduelle Group. “However, at Bonduelle, we believe that we can make a difference in contributing to the well-being of people and the planet. We are proud of the positive impact we have made, and we are grateful to our stakeholders for their part in these achievements. We will continue to hold ourselves accountable, keep working to deliver on our goals, and continue to be transparent about our progress along the way.”

Bonduelle's primary mission, according to a press release, is to inspire the transition toward a plant-based diet, contributing to consumers’ well-being and planet health.

In line with this mission, in 2020 the company introduced the B!Pact, a framework of its CSR goals to underline its firm pledge to Planet, Food, and People. These three objectives support the supplier in deepening its commitments and broadening its scope and impacts, as well as supports Bonduelle’s B Corp milestone.

“Through the B!Pact strategy, we’re able to make meaningful progress on a series of concrete actions as we work toward achieving our CSR goals and acquiring B Corp certification by 2025. This triple commitment tied to planet, food, and people ladders up to who we are as a purpose-driven company and furthers our positive impact ambition,” said Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mathew Caldwell. “We’re proud to report that we have made significant progress on the goals we set out to accomplish by 2025 and are excited about the journey ahead.”

Bonduelle Fresh Americas has made strong progress against goals related to climate change, agricultural practices, water and energy usage, waste, packaging, virgin plastic reduction, and recycling. Highlights of its commitment to the planet include:

• Eliminated 18 percent of its virgin plastic in 2020, exceeding the year’s milestone of 5 percent
• Facilities collectively enhanced energy efficiency by 4 percent, which is the equivalent of approximately 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent being removed from the atmosphere
• Manufacturing facilities reached a 62 percent waste diversion rate, which amounted to more than 22,000 metric tons of reused and recycled materials
• 100 percent of growers use alternative crop techniques (ACTs) to protect and nourish the land

Under the business unit’s commitment to food, Bonduelle has made progress against goals related to food safety and responsible sourcing. Highlights include:

• 100 percent of the Bonduelle Fresh Americas facilities maintain certification from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) each year
• Completed a risk assessment in 2020 to better understand and optimize how suppliers contribute to its purpose and B!Pact goals

In its commitment to people, Bonduelle has worked toward increased ethics; human rights; health and safety; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and community impact, including:

• Donated nearly 500,000 pounds of surplus food to those in need through partnering organizations, a 500 percent increase from 2019
• Analyzed employee data and found that 90 percent of workforce identified as being racially diverse and found that the business unit had nearly equal gender representation (missed by only 1 percent)
• Adopted Bonduelle Group’s Ethics Charter and an updated Code of Conduct, available online to employees in 13 different languages

How will these important investments support the fresh produce industry as a whole? Keep reading to find out.

Bonduelle Fresh Americas