The Road to Sustainable Sustenance

The fresh foods industry is finding truth in the old phrase ‘It’s not the destination, but the journey,’ when it comes to implementing sustainability initiatives. 

Sustainability is one of those buzzwords in the food industry that carries a lot of weight, but is frequently followed with a lot of confusion. Some companies started carving the path years ago, for others this is a new route to navigate. For most, sustainability is understood to be an important concept, and though a definition of what it means has not been solidified, progress has certainly been made in getting manufacturers, retailers and consumers on the same page.

“I think sustainability is minimizing our impact on the environment in every step of the process,” says Anne Byerly, vice president of marketing for Apio. The Guadalupe, Calif.-based company, which goes to market under the Eat Smart and Greenline vegetable brands, works to process its raw products in the most environmentally friendly way possible. It operates four plants, in Hanover, Pa., Bowling Green, Ohio, Vero Beach, Fla. and Guadalupe, Calif. The Guadalupe plant is its main base, and the company has had to implement many practices revolving around food-safe water reuse to combat California’s recent and ongoing drought. 

With plans to expand its Hanover facility this year from 19,000 square feet to 64,000 square feet, Apio officials say that they will be bringing these sustainable practices across the country where there is no water shortage, just to ensure the new plant is operating in an environmentally friendly manner. Byerly adds that the sustainably designed, state of the art new facility will go from two to 10 processing lines and add between 200-250 jobs.

Others in the industry echoed Byerly’s sentiment on the subject, and enforced the idea within a broader spectrum. “Sustainability is more than just being environmentally conscious or eco-focused,” says Jessie Gunn, marketing for Wholesum Harvest. “Sustainability is about developing systems that are cyclical and that can sustain. It is the planet the people live on, the food the people are eating, the environments the people are working in, the education the people are getting, the quality of life that the people have that grow the food, harvest the food, eat the food, ship the food—all of those things along the way.”

Gunn adds that all of Wholesum Harvest’s operations are Fair Trade certified, and that the Nogales, Ariz.-based company’s water story is unmatched—for every pound of tomatoes grown, it only uses five gallons of water, total. She compares that to a pound of traditional field-grown tomatoes, weighing in at a significantly increased 25 gallons.

Jay Theiler, executive director, marketing for Agri Beef, takes it a step further. “Sustainability should incorporate much more than just good environmental practices. Though still vital, it should be much more encompassing; social, environmental and economic sustainability are all key factors for fresh food companies,” he says.

Agri Beef incorporates these views through its “STAR” Commitment, which stands for Sustainability, Total Quality, Animal Wellbeing and Responsibility. The Boise, Idaho-based company has invested resources to capture methane generated in beef production and uses the energy to displace 20 percent of its natural gas needs. The company is also the co-founder of “Beef Counts,” an industry-wide initiative in Idaho and Washington to provide beef to local food banks, in support of the community. “At the end of the day, sustainability for us is about balancing the needs of and caring for our people—customers, community and employees—planet and our animals,” Theiler adds.

Steve Lutz, vice president, marketing for CMI, says that the Wenatchee, Wash.-based company’s sustainability practices are constantly evolving. They currently include integrated pest management systems to minimize the use of pesticides, efforts to control soil erosion, efficient use of water, reductions in food waste and sustainable package design.

For Josie’s Organics, a brand of Soledad, Calif.-based Braga Fresh Family Farms, sustainable farming practices have been a way of life for three generations. The multitude of practices the company relies on include drip irrigation, natural pest control, soil management and using the most modern technology to ensure efficiency.

An Uphill Climb

The practices outlined sound like the best-case scenario—so why does every grower, supplier and manufacturer not operate in this manner? Though many observers feel like the industry is moving in the right direction in incorporating sustainable practices, they also agree that the produce industry faces specific challenges on that front.

“Produce is a uniquely complicated food because it is alive,” Byerly says. “There are lots of other food products where you are unconstrained on what package materials you use. But with produce, the need for the proper elements to react with the products so that you get the full 17-day shelf life really does prove to be a unique challenge.”

Lutz adds that the costs associated with sustainability and impacts on crop yield are also issues for growers. He notes the competitive nature of apple and pear production today—that has driven down pricing—which has led to the need for growers to increase yields while still employing sustainable practices.

It is the initial investment, says Gunn, that can seem off-putting. “Being a sustainable operation isn’t always the most affordable start-up. It is not always the most economical way to go in. But doing business with good integrity, we have had good business,” she adds.

Food waste is another major concern that growers and suppliers are looking for solutions to, starting with embracing “imperfect” produce. “It’s wasteful when a retailer rejects a load of produce because it doesn’t meet their expectations for appearance—but it’s totally understandable because consumers won’t buy it for the same reason,” says Karen Nardozza, representative of Moxxy Marketing, the company that handles the marketing for Josie’s Organics. “The produce industry is tilling under imperfect-looking produce or hauling it to the dump because there’s no marketplace for it—that’s about as unsustainable as we can imagine.”

Aside from the logistical obstacles to sustainability, many agree that lack of education is the next biggest barrier the industry needs to overcome. The shaky definition of the term has led to confusion and provides a challenge for suppliers. Dan Wohlford, national marketing representative for Wenatchee, Wash.-based Oneonta/Starr Ranch, says that due to the uneven education, there is sometimes resistance from older growers who are used to their ways of operating—those that do not understand what difference sustainable practices will make for future generations.

Looking on the bright side, Wohlford also alludes to the fact that younger consumers, like the Millennial generation, are attuned to this concept and seek out sustainably grown produce and the like. He even goes so far as to say that for the generation after Millennials, sustainability will hopefully be so mainstream that they will take its existence for granted. “It will become part of the fabric of what we do,” he says.

Most predict that future customers will demand that not only is food tasty and fresh, but that it was ethically and sustainably sourced or grown. The hope, for those in the industry who are putting resources into converting practices to be as responsible as possible, is that it will soon become mandatory.