Fyffes Honduran melon farm Suragroh has received the GLOBALG.A.P certification, building on the transformation led by local management over the past two years. GLOBALG.A.P’s vision is to recognise farms for their efforts to produce safe food while safeguarding workers’ health and safety, the environment, and the welfare of local communities.
Fyffes began the transformation of its Honduran and Guatemalan melon businesses in 2021 with the appointment of new management, including the General Manager of Melon Operations Genivaldo Pereira. Since then, the farms have been on a journey of improvement in social and labour standards, environmental stewardship, and strong governance, including Suragroh’s receipt of the coveted Socially Responsible Company Seal from the Honduran Foundation for Socially Responsible Business (FUNDAHRSE) in 2022. Suragroh’s new GLOBALG.A.P. certification further demonstrates Fyffes ongoing commitment to advancing good agricultural and sustainable practices.
Speaking about the certification, Mr. Pereira said “I would like to thank all the people at Suragroh and within the global compliance team who have worked very hard to achieve this important distinction. My goal since I joined Fyffes melon business, has been to transform the melon farms and packhouses so that we can grow the business. This certification is valued by our customers all over the world but especially in Europe, providing a springboard for global growth for our business and benefitting the local communities.”
Hugo Hays, Fyffes Global Director of Compliance and Food Safety, said: “In October 2001, Fyffes was the first company ever to certify GLOBALG.A.P. (EurepGAP) for bananas. We have been unwavering in our support of best agricultural practices since then, and it is with immense pride and gratitude to my colleagues that our melon operations are also now being recognised. Achieving this certification has needed some fundamental changes to our melon production systems and philosophy, which our teams have fully embraced, to offer full confidence to customers worldwide of our commitment to leading-edge compliance.”
About GLOBAL.G.A.P
GLOBALG.A.P. is a brand of smart farm assurance solutions developed by FoodPLUS GmbH in Cologne, Germany, with cooperation from producers, retailers, and other stakeholders from across the food industry. These solutions include a range of standards for safe, socially and environmentally responsible farming practices. The most widely used GLOBALG.A.P. standard is Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA), applicable for fruit and vegetables, aquaculture, floriculture, livestock, and more. This standard also forms the basis for the GGN label: The consumer label for certified, responsible farming and transparency.
The GLOBALG.A.P. brand began its journey as EUREPGAP in 1997. Two decades later, over 200,000 producers are under GLOBALG.A.P. certification in 134 countries. Nearly 150 team members around the world are dedicated to the mission of spreading responsible farming practices to ensure safe food for future generations.
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
