Sustainable tropical fruit farming
FrieslandCampina Riedel B.V. and Solidaridad have announced that they will be joining forces to promote more sustainable tropical fruit cultivation.
The two companies will support Brazilian orange growers who provide fruit for Appelsientje by implementing Solidaridad’s Rural Horizon programme, which aims to help the farmers improve their production processes to become more sustainable. Support will also be provided to farmers in India who supply mangos for CoolBest. Oranges and mangos make up around 80 per cent of all tropical fruit purchased by FrieslandCampina.
Jeroen Kroezen, Solidaridad’s international programme manager for tropical fruit, says “The cooperation with FrieslandCampina not only delivers a sustainable food supply chain; it also improves the position of the farmers involved and offers them better prospects”.
Marjan Skotnicki-Hoogland, director of FrieslandCampina Riedel BV, adds, “The cooperation with Solidaridad reinforces our ambition to improve the position of farmers as they move towards a more sustainable farming system, without making any concessions in terms of the quality of our products. However, as FrieslandCampina we cannot do it alone. Achieving a sustainable outcome requires a sector-wide approach and cooperation with other partners in the supply chain.”
