Empowering Consumers Case Study

Project Date

2020

Empowering Consumers;
Promoting Organic & Fairtrade Availability

In Total Produce we are committed to providing conventionally grown fresh produce in accordance with the very best agronomic and ethical standards. We recognise too, however, that there is increasing demand amongst consumers for organically grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Across our operations we work hard to empower consumers in making their own choices by including the widest possible range of organic certified produce within our produce portfolio.

Specialist Units and Divisions

Within our business, we operate a number of specialist organic units and divisions. In the Netherlands, OTC Organics offers 52 week supply of an extensive selection of organic products to a customer base that extends across Europe, North America and the Middle East. In California, EcoFarms specialises in organic avocados, exotics and citrus fruit, operating their own production and working with organic growers across the world. Organic lines are also very often available alongside conventionally grown lines throughout our wider operations. Across North America, for example, Dole is the number 1 organic banana and pineapple brand. Dole also markets a comprehensive range of organic vegetables. In Total Produce Nordic, 80% of the bananas that we sell are organically produced while in Spain our partner Grupo Eurobanan promotes a number of in-house organics brands including Agroorigen Bio (vegetables), Isla Bonita Organics (Exotics), Natural ARC & Meddits.

Growing Organics

In approaching production, in Total Produce we are committed to ongoing improvement and the adoption of ever more sustainable practices across both conventional and organic production. We believe that conventional and organic production can be complementary. Experience in organic production can help in determining more sustainable ways of producing conventional crops, while conventional production learnings can contribute to scaling up organic production to meet increasing demand.

Promoting organics:

A Niche No More Perceptions of the organic fresh produce market have traditionally centered on the challenges; perceived high costs, limited range and security and consistency of quality and supply. In early 2020 Total Produce established a specialist organics unit to bring together internal expertise in organic production and procurement from across the wider Group to address these challenges. In establishing “Total Organics”, we are seeking to raise the bar in the organic category in terms of range, availability, consistency of quality, packaging and marketing by bringing the strength of our global Group to bear on the category. In May 2020, the first Total Organics branded retail range was launched on to the Irish market. We expect to extend this model across Europe in 2021.

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