Improving life perfectly encapsulates our ambition to be a driving force in the transition towards healthier lifestyles and a more sustainable food supply chain.

We believe we can truly add value to society with our undeniably healthy products. By making fruit and vegetables more available and affordable, we improve people’s well-being and enable healthier lifestyles, with the added benefit of reduced healthcare costs. By ensuring that our fruit and vegetables are produced in a sustainable way, that nature is fostered and that all stakeholders involved in the food value chain are respected, we generate a positive impact for everyone in that chain.

This does not make us an NGO. We certainly encounter dilemmas in doing our business, but it is a sound and sustainable foundation on which we can continue to build. As a global player, we recognise that anything we do has an impact and we strive to be a purpose-driven company, a connecting force in the food value chain.

On the one hand, we connect with our global network of dedicated growers – with whom we often have long-term relationships – and provide them with a solid basis on which to run their business. On the other hand, we connect with our customers to collaborate on environmental, social and governance themes and to promote healthier lifestyles. Our long-term integrated relationships with customers provide the necessary trust and confidence to move towards more sustainable or even regenerative food value chains.

Our business model contains many elements that contribute to solving global issues. But we still have a long way to go and can only be successful if we embark on this journey together with all our partners in the food value chain. Together, we must realise that we are only borrowing our planet from future generations and that we must try to hand it over without any debt.

Sustainability is often limited to environmental impact, but in our view, economy, ecology and social impact are intertwined. That is why we have adopted the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding compass and selected four of them to focus on.

The SDGs are a clear call to action and seek to mobilise global efforts around a common set of goals and targets. We believe the SDGs can help government, business and civil society to work together to end poverty, hunger, environmental pollution, climate change and create a life of dignity and opportunity for all.