Stemilt Reports Measurable Gains Through EFI Partnership
February 26, 2026 | 3 min to read
Stronger Engagement Drives Safer & More Efficient Workplaces
WASHINGTON – Equitable Food Initiative, the workforce development and certification organization that partners with growers, farmworkers and retailers, today highlighted measurable safety, engagement and workforce retention gains achieved by Stemilt Growers through its implementation of EFI’s Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured® certification program, demonstrating how structured worker engagement drives operational performance.
Six years after earning its first EFI certification, Stemilt conducted a comprehensive review of its internal processes and workforce data to evaluate the long-term impact of EFI’s training and collaborative model. The results show sustained improvements across key business and workforce indicators and are featured in a new case study on EFI’s website, which can be found at equitablefood.org/stemilt.
Over the past several seasons, Stemilt strengthened its safety performance, recording multiple months with zero injuries and bringing its overall incident rate below the Washington state OSHA average. In addition, employee engagement scores improved 10% between 2022 and 2024, per person productivity increased by 16% since 2021, and handling damage was cut in half in the past year.
“We’ve not only seen a 15% reduction in workplace injuries, but have also experienced a significant lift in efficiency, with improved measures in pounds of fruit packed per hour, labor cost per acre and rejection rate,” said West Mathison, president of Stemilt Growers. “These indicators are all the intended consequences from our commitment to engaging people in the work and focusing on how to get better.”
With engagement rising, workforce stability has also strengthened. Stemilt reports a 96% return rate among its 1,600 H-2A workers and an 80% return rate among local seasonal workers. Year-round employees average 9.3 years of tenure, and more than $800,000 has been paid to workers in bonuses through the EFI certification program.
Many improvements originated directly from EFI’s worker-manager collaborative teams. Employees helped redesign field water access systems, implement dedicated traffic lanes and pedestrian safety measures in facilities, upgrade ergonomics in packhouses and address ladder and slip-related risks through targeted training and inspections.
“Bringing EFI into our operations has been essential in training our workforce, especially around soft skills, like collaborating to find solutions and holding up ideas for doing things better,” said Brianna Shales, director of marketing at Stemilt Growers. “The changes might be small in nature, but they add up to build engagement, trust and overall growth of our people.”
“Stemilt has shown incredible commitment to high standards, and not just with their consistently high rate of compliance to EFI’s rigorous certification, but with their commitment to the whole human,” said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, director of marketing & communications at EFI. “Their dedication goes beyond any audit, embracing a unique approach in agriculture to help workers show up and be their best selves.”
Kevin Boyle, EFI’s director of workforce and organizational development, added, “Every person that I have worked with at Stemilt, from the orchards to the headquarters, values relationships. There is a shared core belief that people are the key to high performance, that they are the problem solvers and should be valued. That value is having a direct impact across the operation.”
Five years of sustained training, collaborative leadership and data-driven review demonstrate how structured worker engagement strengthens culture, reduces risk and delivers measurable business results.
For more information about certification and access to free workshops and tools, visit equitablefood.org.
About EFI
Equitable Food Initiative is a capacity-building and certification nonprofit that works to improve the lives of farmworkers and drive business performance by integrating worker engagement throughout the supply chain. Committed to multistakeholder participation, EFI works with growers, farmworkers, retailers and experts to create assessment, training and organizational development programs that support continuous improvement and address agriculture’s most pressing challenges. For more information about Equitable Food Initiative, visit equitablefood.org.