Zespri and the Environment: Steps Towards a More Sustainable Future
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Did You Know
At Zespri, our delicious kiwifruit is made in partnership with Mother Nature. That's why we make sure that we hold ourselves to the highest environmental standards to create a true difference both in the quality of our fruit and the impact on our planet. Sustainability sits at the heart of Zespri’s purpose to help growers, communities, the environment and our consumers thrive. But we know there’s more for us to do. Our consumers expect this of us, as we do of ourselves.
We’re committed to succeeding the right way — making sure we care for our environment, our community and our kiwifruit. That’s why we are proud of our bold sustainability targets and commitments.
Our Packaging Goals for the Future
Although Zespri Kiwifruit is one of the lowest impact foods produced, we know we can do even better. That's why we're committed to making all of our packaging 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. By this date, any plastic packaging will be made from at least 30 percent recycled plastic, and we will reduce our packaging footprint by 25 percent per kg of fruit produced by 2030. Globally, Zespri joined some of the world’s biggest brands in 2019 to sign up to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment with the goal of creating a circular economy for plastics.
If you've purchased a pack of Zespri Kiwifruit this summer in the USA or Canada, you might've even noticed some updates to our existing packaging. Our new 1lb. packs reduced the use of plastic by 8 percent. All consumer packs are made from 100% recycled materials and are100% recyclable. This is just another step in our continued journey towards a more sustainable future.
Our Water Resources
Our industry’s water strategy is focused on improving data collection and protecting our water resources.We are actively working with our growers and providing tools to protect their water quality, while using monitoring technology to efficiently use precious water resources.
Climate Change
We are working to understand the contribution we make to climate change as an industry, as well as exploring the opportunities we have to reduce our impact. This includes areas such as shipping, packaging, cool store operations and orchard inputs. We are also investing in learning about what we can do to improve the carbon we store in soil and through our growing systems.
We will be building out and implementing plans in the next couple of years to make sure Zespri corporate will be carbon neutral by 2025. And alongside with our partners, we will be carbon positive by 2035.
We’re fully committed to making people’s lives better with our kiwifruit, while contributing to the sustainability of the earth our fruit grows on. Although we’ve made great progress in ensuring our high standards, we’ll continue to innovate and improve our efforts into making the world a better place.
Haven’t seen our new packaging yet? Find Zespri Kiwifruit near you!
