Dole Packaged Foods and Dole Asia Fresh, which are divisions of Dole Asia Holdings, announced plans to move toward zero fossil-based plastic packaging by 2025.
In addition, the company wants to eliminate food loss from Dole farms to markets by 2025, and they’re aiming for net zero carbon emissions in operations by 2030.
“The next generation is right to question why we have left problems like climate change for so long. There are inter-generational repercussions,” said Pier Luigi Sigismondi, president of Dole Packaged Foods. “That is why we are increasing our efforts in key areas like reducing carbon emissions and working toward removing plastic packaging from our supply chain.”
Although the company, which produces and markets fruits, vegetables, and snacks, didn’t say exactly how it would reach these new goals, developments in recent years point to several strategies.
“In R&D labs, the company is now exploring ways to turn pineapple skins and banana leaves into packaging,” Fast Company reported this week, noting that Dole grows billions of bananas annually.
For food waste mitigation, Fast Company added that Dole is “developing new snacks from misshapen produce that grocery stores don’t want, and processing excess waste in biogas facilities that turn food into electricity to power its processing plants.”
Dole announced a partnership with the international civil society organization Solidaridad, which works to create fair and sustainable supply chains on five continents. The company also plans to collaborate with the organization Forum for the Future, the food innovation-focused Future Food Institute, and the venture capital firm Rocana.
The company said that Dole will be launching a $2 million annual fund, called the Sunshine for All Investment Fund, later this year to work with startups and partners on areas such as nutrition products, materiality, and practices that help the company achieve its sustainability targets.