AgroFresh Deepens Its Sustainability and ESG Commitments
10 March 2022 - 8:10AM
AgroFresh Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: AGFS) (“AgroFresh” or the
“Company”), a global leader in produce freshness solutions devoted
to fighting food loss and waste, today released its first
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report. The report kicks
off a larger initiative that renews AgroFresh’s commitment to a
range of future sustainability goals. This builds on past
achievements and reinforces the Company’s dedication to its global
customers to deliver products, services and solutions that
sustainably help improve produce quality and reduce food loss and
waste.
This year's ESG report provides a transparent view into
AgroFresh's sustainability performance across a number of key ESG
areas, including benchmarks aligned with the United Nations'
Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). According to the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization, nearly 33 percent of food is lost or
wasted, and upwards of 50 percent of fruits and vegetables perish
before being consumed. AgroFresh is leading the charge with
solutions and services devoted to tackling this issue. The Company
embraces all 17 UN SDGs and has specifically addressed five of them
- UN SDGs 2, 9, 10, 12, and 13 - within the ESG report to provide
context around its sustainability initiatives.
Highlights of the ESG report include:
- Addressing Hunger and
Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: Through the deployment
of produce freshness products such as SmartFresh™, Harvista™ and
our latest line of plant-based coatings VitaFresh™ Botanicals,
AgroFresh solutions help to extend the shelf life of produce,
mitigating the amount of food lost or wasted, and increasing the
availability and access to fresh produce in global markets.
- Promoting
Innovation: AgroFresh's team of more than forty scientists
have fostered innovation, including digital AgTech platforms under
FreshCloud™ that use machine learning and AI to enable advancements
in supply chain sustainability.
- Ensuring Sustainable Global
Consumption and Production Patterns: Thanks to AgroFresh's
SmartFresh solution, well over 250,000 metric tons (half a billion
pounds) of apples have been sold at retail rather than sent to the
landfill in France, Italy and the U.S. alone, and over 2.5 million
metric tons of water has been saved from reduced apple
spoilage.
- Taking Action to Combat
Climate Change and Its Impacts: AgroFresh's SmartFresh
technology has been shown to yield an annual reduction of 800
thousand metric tons of CO2, which is equivalent to emissions from
approximately 170 thousand cars a year. AgroFresh's Spanish
operations alone have reduced CO2 emissions by 35.3 metric tons
from 2015 to 2020 through the implementation of AgroFresh's product
packaging recycling program.
In addition to the release of the ESG report, AgroFresh is
launching a set of ESG commitments to achieve by 2027. The
announcement builds on AgroFresh’s leadership in reducing global
food waste and reinforces its commitment to sustainability efforts
across the food chain that lessen the impact on the
environment.
“AgroFresh's commitment to sustainability is at the very core of
what we do, and our focus on ESG goes hand-in-hand with our mission
of ensuring produce freshness and reducing food waste on a global
scale,” said Clint Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of AgroFresh. “We
firmly believe that reducing post-harvest losses of
already-produced food is more sustainable than increasing
production to compensate, and our solutions have helped keep
countless tons of quality produce from being wasted. Looking ahead,
we will continue to hold ourselves accountable and leverage our
products, services and technical expertise to serve our customers
and help address their sustainability goals, as well as focus our
innovation efforts to develop and bring to market new solutions
that maximize produce freshness and help reduce food loss and
waste.”
These commitments include:
- A focus on continued
innovation, with 100% of our R&D investments in new
technology platforms and solutions devoted to developing products
and services that support customers’ environmental, water
conservation and food waste goals, and to develop and drive the
adoption of new sustainable, natural, plant-based and/or biological
solutions.
- The reduction of AgroFresh’s
environmental impact, including its own emissions and
efforts to account for overall emissions across the Company’s value
chain.
- Contribute to the improving
representation of gender and racial/ethnic
diversity in global agriculture by strengthening
the diversity in its global workforce through targeted recruitment
efforts and partnering with industry groups and organizations that
are focused on improving diversity at all levels
in the agriculture industry.
- Making an impact at a local
level, through the dedication of employee time and
expertise for community impact, raising awareness and engagement
with non-profit organizations that advance the mission of food
security and food waste prevention.
The Company is committed to tracking its ESG performance and
providing regular updates on the progress towards achieving these
goals. Learn more about AgroFresh’s ESG commitments
on AgroFresh.com and through AgroFresh’s social channels.
About AgroFresh
AgroFresh (Nasdaq: AGFS) is an AgTech innovator and global
leader with a mission to prevent food loss/waste and conserve the
planet’s resources by providing a range of science-based solutions,
data-driven digital technologies and high-touch customer services.
AgroFresh supports growers, packers and retailers with solutions
across the food supply chain to enhance the quality and extend the
shelf life of fresh produce. The AgroFresh organization has 40
years of post-harvest experience across a broad range of crops,
including revolutionizing the apple industry with the SmartFresh™
Quality System for more than 20 years. This is powered by a
comprehensive portfolio that includes plant-based coatings,
equipment and proprietary solutions that help improve the freshness
supply chain from harvest to the home. Visit agrofresh.com to learn
more.
Contacts:
Michael Wolfe – Media RelationsICR
Inc.Michael.Wolfe@icrinc.com
Jeff Sonnek – Investor RelationsICR
Inc.Jeff.Sonnek@icrinc.com
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