CMI Orchards Earns Dual Honors at 2026 SEAL Sustainability Awards for Planet Positive Innovation and Carbon Negative Tree Fruit
February 4, 2026 | 3 min to read
WENATCHEE, Wash. — CMI Orchards has been named a 2026 SEAL Sustainability Award winner in two categories, earning recognition for Sustainability Innovation for its Planet Positive™ program and Sustainable Products for its carbon negative apples, pears, and cherries. These dual awards underscore CMI’s global leadership in driving regenerative, climate‑positive tree fruit production and advancing sustainability.
Each year, the SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement & Leadership) Business Awards recognize 50 of the world’s most sustainable companies for environmental initiatives that demonstrate innovation, measurable impact, and long-term commitment across industries and geographies.
CMI’s Planet Positive™ program was recognized for redefining what sustainability looks like in commercial agriculture. Built on the belief that farming should give back more to the land than it takes, Planet Positive™ integrates carbon negative growing practices, regenerative soil health, waste upcycling, and transparent environmental reporting into CMI’s orchard systems. The program is designed to benefit more than the environment, providing tangible benefits for growers, retail partners, and consumers seeking food produced with integrity and accountability.
“We are deeply honored to receive the SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award in recognition of our Planet Positive™ program,” said Bob Mast, President of CMI Orchards. “At its core, Planet Positive™ reflects our belief that farming should leave the land better than we found it. By cultivating carbon negative orchards, regenerating soil, producing nutrient-rich fruit, upcycling waste, and operating with transparency and trust, we’re helping move the fresh produce industry forward while giving families confidence in the food they bring home.”
In addition to the innovation award, CMI was recognized with a SEAL Sustainable Product Award for producing carbon negative apples, pears, and cherries—tree fruit that offsets and surpasses its on-farm emissions footprint. Carbon negative agriculture plays a critical role in addressing climate change by reducing emissions and actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil.
CMI’s carbon negative fruit is supported by The Soil Center, a facility that operates a closed-loop system that converts orchard waste into regenerative soil amendments, to assist our growers with enhancing soil health and sequestering carbon in the soil long-term. These practices allow CMI growers to reduce waste, improve orchard resilience, and create measurable climate benefits at scale.
“We are honored to receive the SEAL Sustainable Product Award for our carbon negative apples, pears, and cherries,” said Rose Vejvoda, Sustainability Manager at CMI Orchards. “This recognition highlights meaningful progress in regenerative agriculture and offers consumers fruit that fully offsets its growing emissions. Between 2022-2025, The Soil Center project generated more than 700,000 carbon credits by storing carbon in the soil, where it delivers lasting environmental value. We remain committed to expanding these practices, increasing sequestration, and strengthening sustainability across our supply chain.”
The 2026 SEAL Sustainability Award honorees include global infrastructure and industrial leaders such as DP World, Hitachi Energy, Saudi Aramco, and Lenovo, alongside fast-growing climate and sustainability innovators including Jupiter Intelligence, 4AIR, Hilti, and EPAM Systems.
As one of the world’s largest grower-packer-shippers of apples, pears, and cherries, CMI Orchards continues to lead the tree fruit industry by pairing scale with stewardship—demonstrating that regenerative, Planet Positive™ farming can deliver environmental progress while supporting growers, retail partners, and consumers alike.