Sustainability Summits bite off fresh produce industry challenges

August 7, 2024

The International Fresh Produce Association Australia-New Zealand (IFPA A-NZ) has assembled the exemplars of Australasia’s produce industry to advance the supply chain’s conversation on sustainability at two key Sustainability Summits in Australia and New Zealand next week.

Delegates from across the fresh produce supply chain including representatives from vertically integrated businesses, growers, exporters, retailers, packaging and certification companies, will attend the Sustainability Summits held in Melbourne on August 13 and Auckland on August 15. IFPA A-NZ is proud to co-produce the New Zealand Sustainability Summit with United Fresh New Zealand Inc.

Top-tier topics in global sustainability including food waste, packaging, regenerative agriculture, trends and innovations, corporate and industry case studies and developing frameworks to mitigate the risks of climate change amid increasing pressure from legislators, customers and consumers will be addressed.

Key-note speaker US-based IFPA vice president of sustainability Tamara Muruetagoiena will present a global sustainability overview including her insights into the factors driving corporate sustainability agendas.

Ms Muruetagoiena said New Zealand was setting the pace in global fresh produce sustainability with the Australian industry more aware than ever of the urgent need to act on issues such as packaging, food waste, carbon accounting and regenerative agriculture.

“Regulators around the world are responding to consumer demands to remove or reduce single use plastics in fresh produce. In Australia, regulators are coming for PLU stickers. It’s our industry’s responsibility to provide better, more sustainable packaging options that balance food safety, food quality and waste,” she said.

“Until recently, the global conversation on climate change has focused on fossil fuels but there is an increasing focus on carbon and greenhouse gases. We have to explore the opportunities to become environmentally friendly, and find ways to reduce and manage fertiliser use,” she said.

The repurposed Pentridge Coburg will host the IFPA Australian Sustainability Summit. Image courtesy Pentridge Coburg. Click to download image.

Leading lights share sustainability progress

Zespri International executive officer for sustainability, Rachel Depree, who is also chair of the IFPA Global Sustainability Council (comprising some 150 sustainability professionals and companies) urged industry stakeholders starting their sustainability journeys to focus on only the two to three topics that matter to their customers or consumers and find out which of the increasingly stringent regulations and requirements apply to them most directly.

Ms Depree, who joined Zespri International five years ago to establish the company’s sustainability function and framework ahead of implementation, will outline key insights from Zespri’s sustainability journey to date at both Summits.

“Our priorities centre around providing great-tasting, high-quality kiwifruit that deliver on health and wellbeing, while ensuring our packaging meets environmental standards. We're also focusing on understanding how climate change could impact our supply - all part of future-proofing our industry,” she said.

“On packaging, we are making steady progress. The percentage of our consumer packaging that is now recyclable, reuseable or compostable is 80 per cent, compared with 70 per cent last season and 66 per cent at baseline,” Ms Depree said.

N.A.V.I Co Global CEO, "The Packaging Hippie" Gilad Sadan who will present on packaging trends and innovations said his paper bag solutions including those developed for mandarins, bananas, grapes and potatoes, focused on being fully recyclable to support easy recycling at home.

“This innovation came about as a direct response to the challenges posed by the fallout of the REDcycle program, aiming to offer a sustainable alternative that is both practical and effective,” Mr Sadan said.

“By integrating sustainability into the core of packaging design, making eco-friendly choices is not just beneficial for the environment but also appealing and practical for consumers,” he said.

Ingniting the tough conversation

An example of sustainable packaging created by N.A.V.I Co Global for premium table grape producer Costa Group. Image courtesy Costa Group. Click to download image.

IFPA managing director A-NZ Ben Hoodless said the Summits would be the second hosted in Australasia, and are among a series of targeted workshops and events on sustainability held since 2020, in response to growing demand from the industry.

“They will bring together the entire supply chain to hear about a broad range of sustainability journeys from different perspectives. Across the industry people are talking about sustainability, different growers and supply chain participants are at different stages but those who intend to be in the industry for the long term realise they must be engaged in the conversation now,” Mr Hoodless said.

"In our most recent market research of the industry this year, implementing sustainable and environmental practices and meeting regulatory requirements was the top business issue the industry is facing."

A key highlight would be a presentation from the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA) sharing with industry its framework developed to address greenhouse gases, he said.

In keeping with the theme, the IFPA Australian Sustainability Summit will be held at Pentridge Coburg which has been repurposed from its past as a prison. The IFPA and United Fresh New Zealand Sustainability Summit will be held at Go Media Stadium, Mt Smart, Auckland.

Registration is still open to delegates and the Summits are free to IFPA-NZ members.

Event sponsors are CHEP, Bayer Crop Science and the IFPA.

Sustainability Summits bite off fresh produce industry challenges

The International Fresh Produce Association Australia-New Zealand (IFPA A-NZ) has assembled the exemplars of Australasia’s produce industry to advance the supply chain’s conversation on sustainability at two key Sustainability Summits in Australia and New Zealand next week.

Leading lights share sustainability progress

Ingniting the tough conversation

Additional Press