Sustainability
Sustainability Is Our Top Priority
The sustainability ambitions of Smeding Groenten en Fruit have always been high. Perhaps because as a family business, we are aware of the generations to come? We are at the forefront in striving for sustainable business operations and are also committed to making the entire sector more sustainable. We do this, among other things, by setting a good example and by encouraging growers to cultivate their products as sustainably as possible.
Sustainable Product
We prefer to purchase sustainably grown fruits and vegetables and select only the best products from the most sustainable growers. We consider products with PlanetProof, Fairtrade Max Havelaar, Organic, Rainforest Alliance, Fair for Life, or Sustainably Grown certifications as sustainable.
We guide our growers in cultivating fruits and vegetables sustainably and include environmental objectives in our contracts. Additionally, we support growers in making sustainable choices.
Environmental Impact
In addition to sustainable products, we are committed to sustainable business operations. We strive to drive to our customers with full trucks as much as possible and return to Smeding with full trucks via the growers. Furthermore, we use electric pallet trucks for collecting orders, and our lease cars fall under the most energy-efficient A or B label.
In our company building, we use residual heat from cooling the distribution center to heat the offices. We also have 1,868 solar panels on the roof in Sint Annaparochie, which provide 16% of the total energy consumption. In the distribution centers, we use LED lighting, and rainwater is used to flush some of the toilets.
Sustainable Connection
We value partnerships with our growers. It provides them with a stable basis for innovations in taste, cultivation, and sustainability, and certainty about their income. In turn, we have certainty about quality and quantity of products. We also have special collaborations with suppliers who focus on sustainable employability of people, including those with a distance to the labor market, for example, at the nursery It Wiid in Wier.
And we find it important that our employees do their work fit, vital, and with pleasure. They are our ambassadors. Therefore, we encourage a healthy lifestyle through various programs and initiatives.
Combating Food Waste
By aligning purchase and sales well, we keep our loss percentage low and prevent waste. If we do end up with excess products, we have a solution for that too. As a partner of the food bank, we provide our fruit and vegetable products to 2,300 households throughout the year. Additionally, we advise our customers, among other things with zero waste recipes, so they can prevent food waste.
Sustainable Packaging
At Smeding, we are continuously looking for solutions to reduce the amount of packaging material. But how do we do this, and why are products packaged in the first place? And how can you contribute to reducing packaging material yourself?
Packaging ensures that fruits and vegetables stay fresh longer and do not get damaged during transport. Take a cucumber, for example; this fruit consists largely of water, and the packaging prevents the product from drying out.
Sometimes, the loss of an unpackaged product causes a greater environmental impact than the packaging itself. Therefore, we look at the best balance for each product. We want to keep product spoilage as low as possible while using as little packaging material as possible.
