Webinar – 9 April 2024 – True sustainability in global fresh produce supply chains
On 9 April 2024, the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce hosted its second global webinar, focusing on true sustainability in global fresh produce supply chains.
A recording of the webinar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4FktLKF3Ak.
The webinar was the second in a series of three, with the first webinar, held in September 2023, focusing on the economic sustainability of the fresh fruits and vegetables industry (a recording of the 2023 webinar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVDbgDvswU0) and a third webinar (to be organized in late 2024) focusing on the consumption and promotion of fresh produce.
PROGRAMME:
- Welcome and overview – Ron Lemaire, Global Coalition of Fresh Produce
- The benefits of fruits and vegetables for humans and for the planet – Philippe Binard, Freshfel Europe
- Roundtable on the sustainability challenges facing fruit and vegetable growers today
- USA: Tamara Muruetagoiena, International Fresh Produce Association
- Canada: Dan Duguay, Canadian Produce Marketing Association
- Europe: Philippe Binard, Freshfel Europe
- Latin America: Marta Bentancur, SHAFFE
- Africa: Edouard Lehmann, COLEAD
- Australia/New Zealand: Ron Lemaire, Global Coalition of Fresh Produce
- The need for holistic, harmonized public and private action towards sustainability
- The argument for holistic, harmonized policymaking – Daniel Duguay, Canadian Produce Marketing Association
- Example: plastic packaging – Cheryl Sullivan, PAC Global and International Featured Standards and Jim Downham, PAC Global
- Example: private certification schemes: the challenges created by fragmentation and how to move towards harmonization – Ignacio Antequera, GlobalGAP
- Example: towards a sustainability index for fresh produce – David McInnes, Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking (Canada)
- Discussion and conclusion
Webinar – 19 September 2023 – Economic sustainability in the global fruit and vegetable industry
In September 2023, the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce successfully held its first webinar for the global fruit and vegetable industry, titled Economic sustainability in global supply chains for fresh fruits and vegetables. Over 200 commercial operators, industry representatives, national and international officials and academics registered to attend the webinar, logging in from countries as diverse as Canada, Ecuador, Italy, Uganda and New Zealand, to name but a few.
The webinar was moderated by the Coalition’s Chair, Ron Lemaire of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, and featured presentations by experts in the global fresh produce industry, including Cindy van Rijswick, global strategist at Rabobank (highlighting global trends in supply chains for fruits and vegetables); Alan Renwick, professor of agricultural economics at Lincoln University (New Zealand) (discussing the power relations between suppliers of fruits and vegetables and retailers); and Niccolò Ciulli, advisor at Eurocommerce (focusing on consumers’ value perception and willingness to pay for fruits and vegetables).
A recording of the 2023 webinar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVDbgDvswU0.