Our aim is to do as much as we can to help save our planet by reducing our global footprint. Through our sustainability plan, we take full responsibility all the way from cultivation to end customer. We continuously work to reduce our direct climate impact in terms of agriculture, the choice of packaging, transport and storage, and minimization of waste in production. All to create a natural cycle from earth to earth.

Everfresh facility in Långeberga in Helsingborg has been using renewable energy from wind and hydropower since 2015. By switching to green electricity we have reduced the CO₂-emissions from the plant, thereby lowering our overall environmental impact. The plant’s heating system is also environmentally friendly, as its energy source is biogas from organic waste generated in the plant and excess heat from the plant’s cooling system. Thanks to a supply agreement between the recycling company and our gas supplier, the amount of biogas produced matches the amount consumed in the facility.

4 key pillars

Launched in 2014, the E-plan is our plan for a long-term sustainable business. It is based on four key pillars: economics, ethics, environment and ecology. Through strategic sourcing, reducing waste, project work and community involvement we hope to be able to contribute to reducing the environmental impact on our planet. We do that by growing together with our suppliers and customers with trust, integrity and respect for people and the environment. We do this by offering inspiration, help and guidance in our common journey forward. We believe that cooperation; knowledge exchange and long-term relationships all contribute to our mutual success. We also believe that it’s only by working together that we can make the biggest difference for people’s working conditions, our climate and our health.

Sustainability Labelling

E-Plan is our own sustainability label indicating products that have been produced in a safe, ethical and sustainable way. In order for products to be labelled with E-Plan, the supplier must undergo an audit in which all production steps are checked to ensure that they meet our requirements in terms of product quality, food safety, environment and ethics. We want to contribute to a sustainable agriculture and strive to reduce our own footprint and that of our suppliers. The E-Plan label stands for good quality with a focus on sustainable green products.

Total Produce Nordic works to ensure quality, environmental care, social responsibility and sustainable agriculture. We require all our suppliers top be certified according to GLOBAL G.A.P. (Good Agriculture Practice) and IP Sigill (Integrated Production). All providers from so-called high-risk countries, as defined by the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), must have performed a social audit, alternatively plan such an audit within a reasonable future.

Total Produce Nordic is certified according to KRAV and a member of SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange), the world’s largest collaborative platform for managing ethical data in the supply chain. Everfresh is also certified according to BRC (British Retail Consortium) for food storage and distribution.

In order to check that our suppliers adhere to our requirements we perform regular visits and audits at our growers and warehouses. The visit plan is set annually and based on our internal risk assessment, but visits may also be required if any cultivation problems occur. The inspections are normally announced, but we can also perform unannounced visits. Supplier visits are conducted by our technical department and local auditors. During 2015, four cultivation consultants worked to ensure that all our requirements were met. Checking the goods before shipment is another opportunity to ensure better quality at arrival and less waste.

Our suppliers and growers are spread over large parts of the world. This means opportunities but also a responsibility to improve working conditions and reduce the environmental impact in the production countries. We know that it is possible to grow and produce fruit and vegetables under good social conditions, but it requires a long-term cooperation with our growers and suppliers.

Total Produce Nordic has established a Code of Conduct, which is the basis for all our everyday business decisions. Our Code of Conduct is based on the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact. We are a member of SEDEX and committed to follow the ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative) base code of employee rights. The ETI code is based on the conventions of the ILO (International Labour Organisation) and its internationally recognized code of conduct for labour. Together with our suppliers, we will push for further improvements in our Code of Conduct. Our management and all employees are jointly responsible that the Code of Conduct is followed in all business transactions between us and our partners.

Intelligent return boxes reduce food waste

In Sweden, about 225,000 tonnes of food waste per year can be directly related to the supply chain. That is why Lund University has, together with 16 other players, been running a project called Dynahmat that focuses on developing intelligent logistics and packaging systems that send information in real time and predict the quality and product safety of chilled food.

Following up on the Dynahmat project, Svenska Retursystem (SRS) has now taken the next step in order to reduce food waste and unnecessary use of resources in a project called Return Box 2.0, which was launched in 2016. In this project, sensors for position, temperature, vibration, etc. are integrated into the return packaging and linked with an information system and new ICT-based services. This makes it possible for all users of the system to detect and eliminate any defects in the supply chain, with full integrity protection. It is for example possible to log the temperature of the return boxes and their contents throughout the entire supply chain and by this secure the shelf life of the goods in a completely different way than what is possible today. Foods that are discarded due to failures in the cold chain and the uncertainty about the products’ temperature throughout the flow are one of the major causes of today’s food waste.

The project focuses on the ongoing transformation of Svenska Retursystem from being a provider of return packaging (pallets and crates) for the food industry to becoming a company that integrates sensors into their products and provides associated digital services based on the IoT (Internet of Things).