Company highlights how potential strategic partnerships and regenerative agricultural practices can both improve wildlife habitat and biodiversity while mitigating economic risk of soil loss and degradation.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, distributors, and marketers of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, announced today its participation in this year’s GreenBiz conference, an annual event for sustainable business leaders to explore new opportunities, concerns and concepts in the evolving sustainability profession. Fresh Del Monte’s Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP of Research & Development, Hans Sauter, will join industry leaders in a panel focused on Where Biodiversity Meets the Bottom Line, a discussion spotlighting how companies can operate productively while preserving biodiversity, treating nature as an asset rather than experiencing the risks of biodiversity loss.

“Incorporating biodiversity conservation into business management is critical as the industry faces two interconnected crises, including biodiversity loss across the globe and soil loss and degradation, leading to the threat of extinction of wildlife and loss of productive agricultural land,” said Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP of Research & Development at Fresh Del Monte. “As an agricultural company, we have the responsibility to continue to be part of the solution by implementing regenerative agricultural practices and innovative collaborations with novel partners. We hope both large and small growers will join us in finding new approaches to not only optimize production, but conserve biodiversity.”

The global fresh produce provider believes understanding the on-farm risk of environmental issues can help companies justify new management approaches to enhance ecosystem health while increasing operational resilience. Fresh Del Monte’s commitment to sustainable development and biodiversity conservation has played an important role in protecting forests and supporting local communities in their efforts to restore landscapes and promote social and economic development. Since 2016, over 1 million trees have been planted across the company’s global operating regions.

Last year, Fresh Del Monte announced plans to develop a three-year multi-stakeholder partnership with local organizations, government agencies, and communities to ensure the sustainability of landscapes in Costa Rica and in Guatemala. The development partnership with Fresh Del Monte is part of the develoPPP programme that Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The company has also expanded its sustainability efforts by joining the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org Corporate Alliance with a pledge to plant and donate 2.5 million trees and conserve 10,000 hectares of land by 2025 in and around its farms in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, the Philippines and Kenya. 1t.org’s mission is to mobilize, connect, and empower the global reforestation community to conserve, restore and grow one trillion trees by 2030.

You can learn more about Fresh Del Monte’s sustainability efforts at freshdelmonte.com/sustainability.

ABOUT FRESH DEL MONTE

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. is one of the world's leading vertically integrated producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, as well as a leading producer and distributor of prepared food in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Fresh Del Monte markets its products worldwide under the DEL MONTE® brand (under license from Del Monte Foods, Inc.), a symbol of product innovation, quality, freshness and reliability for over 135 years. The Company also markets its products under the MANN™ brand and other related trademarks. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. is not affiliated with certain other Del Monte companies around the world, including Del Monte Foods, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Del Monte Pacific Limited, Del Monte Canada, or Del Monte Asia Pte. Ltd. Fresh Del Monte is the first global marketer of fruits and vegetables to commit to the “Science Based Targets” initiative. Fresh Del Monte Produce is traded on the NYSE under the symbol FDP.

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