Sustainability Fruits and Vegetables Initiative (Sifav) claims it is on course to meet its target of sourcing 100 percent sustainably-grown fruits and vegetables by 2020, according to fruitnet.com, a London, U.K.-based global produce news source. Last summer the group, which includes Ahold, ICA, Jumbo, Lidl, Coop and C1000, announced that it was on track with its goal of 30 per cent sustainability in 2014. The target for next year is 50 percent.
“Sustainability is important, so that we can keep producing in the long term. This means the inclusion of smallholder farmers into the supply chain,” said Tony Bruggink, program director of the IDH Fruits and vegetables program at last week’s IGD’s Supply Chain Summit held in London last week.
Bruggink said retailers recognized the important role they had in increasing sustainability in the supply chain, both by scaling up existing initiatives and developing new producer support projects. “Their commitment shows the importance of mainstreaming sustainability in the sector,” he said.
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