The Honduran Foundation for Socially Responsible Business (FUNDAHRSE) awarded Fyffes melon business Sol Group the coveted FUNDAHRSE Socially Responsible Company Seal for the years 2022-2023 after obtaining an average of 96% in seven thematic indicators for corporate social responsibility.
On Thursday 17 November, Fyffes Chief Supply Officer, Sheila McCann-Morrison and Sol Group’s General Manager Genivaldo Pereira attended the award ceremony in Honduras’ capital city Tegucigalpa.
FUNDAHRSE is a non-profit, apolitical, non-religious organisation with its primary objective to promote sustainability and corporate social responsibility in Honduras.
FUNDAHRSE conducted an audit of Fyffes melon farm Suragroh, in Choluteca, southern Honduras, to evaluate compliance with its INDICARSE tool, which is ratified by the ISO 26000 standard for social responsibility. Suragroh’s results in the seven thematic indicators were as follows:
- Governance: 97%
- Human Rights: 100%
- Labour Practices: 91%
- Environment: 92%
- Fair Operating Practices: 97%
- Consumer Affairs: 100%
- Community Participation: 99%
Final average: 96%
Speaking about the award, Genivaldo Pereira, General Manager of Sol Group said “I was truly delighted to receive this award on behalf of Fyffes and our melon business. This award is an acknowledgement of the tremendous effort of our Honduran workforce, who have gone above and beyond to help transform our business. I wish to thank them for their efforts in helping Fyffes achieve its vision of becoming one of the most sustainable and ethical companies in Honduras.”
Sheila McCann-Morrison, Chief Supply Officer said about the award “To receive the FUNDAHRSE Seal is a true honour and reflects the scale of the transformation of our winter melon business. The new leadership team in Honduras have leveraged their skills and expertise to ensure that our melon business promotes wellbeing not only for our customers but the local communities and our most important of all, our employees.”
The FUNDAHRSE Seal is granted for the first time for a period of two years, during which the company must carry out a follow-up evaluation. From the third year onwards, the Seal is valid for one year.
PHOTO CAPTION: Sol Group’s Reginaldo de Lima, Michael Fletes and Genivaldo Pereira pictured receiving the FUNDAHRSE Socially Responsible Company Seal at an award ceremony in Honduras’ capital city Tegucigalpa.
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About Fyffes
For over 130 years, Fyffes has provided a selection of tropical products to millions of people around the world. We strengthen relations with our producers, support our employees and diligently attend to every link in the chain: production, procurement, transport, maturation, distribution and marketing, with the aim of achieving the highest quality. This approach has earned Fyffes leadership in several markets: we are the largest importer of Fairtrade-certified bananas in the world, one of the leading importers of bananas and pineapples in Europe, and the largest importer of melons in North America. We joined Sumitomo Corporation in 2017, which kept our industry leadership moving forward in many interesting ways. www.fyffes.com
About SOL Group
SOL Group is the largest producer, packer, transporter and distributor of the highest quality melons and watermelons, produced in the tropical microclimate of Central America to the North American market during the winter months in North America. Since 2013, SOL is a subsidiary of Fyffes and employs between 13,000 and 15,000 seasonal workers in Choluteca and Ojo de Agua in Honduras and the Zacapa region in Guatemala.
