Fyffes farm first to obtain new Rainforest Alliance certification

Fyffes has become the first banana producer to receive the new 2020 version of the Rainforest Alliance certification, which deploys a new management system approach to environmental, labour, social and economic risks. Following many years of successful collaboration, Rainforest Alliance chose a Fyffes banana farm in Costa Rica for the field implementation of its new certification. It includes new concepts such as a gender equality programme at the worker level and the implementation of a salary matrix tool (resulting from a previous joint project).

A broader occupational risk assessment mechanism is also introduced, which leads to a comprehensive operations management plan and a clearer business focus towards sustainability, among other objectives.

Jakeline Rodriguez, senior associate of Rainforest Alliance says it chose to work with Fyffes because of the positive track record with the use of the Rainforest Alliance standard and due to the successful partnership in previous projects, such as the Living Wage project in Belize.

“With this new milestone, Fyffes reaffirms its global leadership strategy in sustainability-related compliance,” said Hugo Hays, global director of compliance and food safety at Fyffes. “Our commitment to facilitating the development of progressive, pragmatic and innovative solutions together with sustainability standards is once again demonstrated, and it helps strengthen the trust so demanded by our customers.”