TRAVERSE CITY, MI - North Bay Produce is making moves on the sustainability front, setting its focus on reducing its ecological footprint while driving long-term economic growth and supporting its vast network of growers. To achieve this, the grower continues to place its sustainability efforts at the forefront.

“Sustainability is a core business philosophy and practice that has always existed within North Bay and its family of growers,” explained Nick Osmulski, President of North Bay Produce. “Some of the core principles encompassed in sustainability have been practiced by our grower owners for generations of farming. However, North Bay Produce is never going to stop pushing and striving for more innovative ways and practices to improve our sustainability efforts.”

As it steps into its next era of sustainability advancement, Jennifer Pulcipher, Director of Food Safety and Compliance will be leading the company’s strategy, a press release explained.

“It is imperative for North Bay to support our network of growers and engage with them as our sustainability strategy evolves,” said Pulcipher. “As has always been our priority to be true partners with our growers, our mission is to ensure that no one is left behind and that we all continually improve. We are also excited to share in the celebration of their success when milestones are met and encourage them to continue taking the next step.”

The next evolution of sustainability for the grower includes establishing a sustainability team within the operation.

“Their mission will be to work even more closely with our growers and retail partners on pushing the limits of what can be achieved in terms of sustainability in all aspects of our business,” Osmulski added. “This will include growing to packing to shipping the fruits and vegetables we produce around the world.”

As the release added, North Bay actively engages with industry stakeholders, government agencies, and non-profit organizations to drive collective action and make progress toward achieving thoughtful sustainability milestones in the specialty crops sector. Some of the supplier’s sustainability-focused strategies include utilizing reduced plastic packaging, recyclable labels, and trialing different materials, as well as an insightful series where their farmers will explain what they are doing regarding environmental stewardship and climate-smart practices.

To dive further into this operation-wide strategy, click here.

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