Recently, there’s been an influx of announcements of produce companies hiring sustainability managers and coordinators, namely Stemilt Growers, Topline Farms and CMI Orchards. These organizations not only see these roles as a logical step toward the future, but they’re also playing a big role in the next generation in the fresh produce industry and for the next generation of produce consumers.
Jana Fishback joined Stemilt Growers as its sustainability coordinator; Justine Taylor joined Topline Farms as its chief sustainability officer, and Rose Vejvoda joined as sustainability manager at CMI Orchards.
Vejvoda says there’s a generational shift among consumers looking for more transparency from companies and brands about sustainability.
“Younger generations are holding companies to a higher standard — they want to know not just what we’re doing, but why and how,” she says. “That level of accountability is reshaping the way we communicate and collaborate across the value chain.”
Fishback, too, says consumers vote with their wallets to prioritize sustainably grown and organic produce.
“I really do believe that a very good way to see better supply of a certain product as a consumer is to purchase and show that you’re prioritizing it,” she says.
Fishback, Taylor and Vejvoda share their goals, the importance of communication and the future of sustainability with The Packer.
Transparency, Trust, and Consumer Communication
Taylor says she sees sustainability as a journey, not a destination.
“It’s not an endpoint,” she says. “It’s not about checking boxes. It’s really focused on continuous improvement.”
Taylor says that as consumers take a greater interest in farming operations, produce growers like Topline need to have an open relationship with retailers, which in turn, helps communicate that transparency to the consumer.
“Consumers are looking for more transparency,” she says. “They want to understand where the products they’re buying are coming from, what their impact is, whether it’s packaging or other attributes. I think it behooves us not only to be more transparent with our efforts and our impact but also be very clear on where we want to go.”
Fishback says another important part of transparency in sustainability is to take a proactive approach when communicating Stemilt’s sustainability efforts clearly, but without greenwashing.
“It’s already confusing enough,” she says, citing labels such as all-natural that don’t help explain a company’s sustainability efforts. “I think that what we can do as a supplier is just be very transparent in the things that we’ve committed to our practices, and hope that consumers value that.”
Vejvoda says it doesn’t help that the term “sustainability” has taken on broad meanings, which makes it harder for the consumer.
“Unfortunately, the term ‘sustainability’ has become so broadly used that it can mean anything from truly transformative practices to superficial changes with little environmental benefit,” she says. “This kind of greenwashing erodes trust and makes it harder for consumers to know what’s real.”
And she says retailers’ role in sustainability is a critical link between consumers’ growing interest in supporting products and companies that align with their values and the transparency they crave.
“Retailers can also play a key role in this by providing clear incentives to their suppliers and elevating brands that are doing the right thing,” she says. “By working together across the supply chain to provide clear, honest information, we can build lasting shopper trust and loyalty and ensure that sustainability regains meaning.”
Sustainability as a Business Strategy
Taylor says, at the heart of sustainability is the triad: social, environmental and economic.
“The social aspects that you undertake, or projects that you undertake, they need to have an economic lens put on them or else they’re not going to work,” she says. “They’re not going to be sustainable if they’re not also economically sustainable.”
And this includes understanding the motivation of Topline’s retail partners to better understand what sustainability goals are achievable in the short term and what are more long-term goals.
“From our perspective, in terms of kind of balancing the need of the corporate sustainability world with the reality of our growers, I think it’s a lot of collaboration with the corporate world,” she says. “It’s open conversations, collaborative relationships with retailers and just understanding each other’s worlds a little bit better.”
Fishback, too, says companies like Stemilt have a long history of sustainability efforts — integrated pest management, composting, organic growing practices, etc. — while continuing to run a successful business. It’s not an either/or anymore; sustainability and business success can go hand-in-hand.
“We have this really long legacy of prioritizing environmental sustainability and still have been a very successful business,” she says.
And it’s critical that produce industry businesses get buy-in from the executive level in these sustainability efforts and go the extra step to bring her in to help facilitate all these efforts.
“Having someone who can really focus in on [sustainability], is dedicated to this, can act as a resource to their colleagues, can keep the momentum going and keep moving the needle is really helpful,” Fishback says.
Taylor says at the heart of sustainability efforts is business continuity.
“It’s about structuring your organization, your business so that you can be sustainable into the future, for your own business, for the planet, for the people that you serve and who work for you, that all of those relationships and impacts are sustainable,” she says.
Vejvoda notes that sustainability isn’t going away anytime soon.
“We see sustainability not as a disconnected initiative, but as an organizational foundation and ongoing goal that supports the long-term viability of our operations while also supporting the people and natural processes that allow us to produce fruit,” she says.
Looking to the Future
Vejvoda says she’s seen a growing interest in regenerative agriculture, which she says CMI looks at as a holistic strategy with a focus on soil health and its partnership with Royal Family Farming.
“Many companies are already incorporating elements of it, like water conservation, composting and soil health initiatives, into their operations,” she says. “For us, regenerative farming isn’t just a checklist, it’s a long-term, holistic strategy.”
Vejvoda says CMI’s investment in science, systems and farmer partnerships will create measurable improvement.
“It’s no longer enough to do less harm, we need to actively be doing good,” she says.
Although it’s not a trend, packaging is a big focus of sustainability efforts. But fresh produce’s relationship with plastics is complicated as it serves as a protection for certain fruits and vegetables.
“I think we’ll probably start to see more companies trying compostable options or paper options instead of plastic,” Fishback says, noting it can be confusing for consumers to understand how to recycle some packaging.
Fishback says she expects to see more of a focus on social responsibility, too, like the Equitable Food Initiative and Fair Trade efforts.
“I think that we’ll see probably more and more of that, where folks want to know how their food was produced, and those labels can help,” she says.
Fishback also believes more growers will communicate efforts around carbon-neutral production as growers will be able to capitalize on carbon credits without too much investment.
“This idea of not just being a grower of the product you’re selling but being kind of this carbon farmer too, and getting other revenue streams for investing in soil health is, I think, pretty innovative and something we’ll see more and more of,” she says.