Dole Food Company, Inc. announced today that its operating
division in Costa Rica, Standard Fruit Company de Costa Rica S.A.
will purchase carbon offsets from the Costa Rican Government´s program
in amounts equal to the carbon dioxide emissions generated by the
inland transport of Dole produced bananas and pineapples.
This ground-breaking announcement marks the first time that a
private company has committed to offset its emissions from the
transport of its finished products within Costa Rica. The announcement
is part of a broader agreement Dole signed last August with the
Government of Costa Rica´s Ministry of the Environment and Energy and
the National Strategy for Climate Change to produce a carbon neutral
supply chain for bananas and pineapples. Costa Rica is seeking to
become carbon neutral by 2021.
"Dole is determined to take the lead in environmentally friendly
production and distribution methods," said David A. DeLorenzo
President and Chief Executive Officer of Dole Food Company, Inc. "We
are committed to helping the Government of Costa Rica achieve their
sustainability ambitions."
Dr. Roberto Dobles, Minister of the Environment and Energy of
Costa Rica stated: "This agreement that Dole signed today is an
important first step within a global vision. It is a first step toward
a great contribution by Dole for the consolidation of the country
strategy to be climate neutral for our bicentennial."
Under the accord, the National Forestry Financing Fund
("Fonafifo") will offer Dole carbon credits from government-certified
forestry projects that will annually sequester an equivalent amount of
carbon from the atmosphere as that emitted by fossil fuel use in road
and rail transportation. In essence, the Dole products will be "carbon
neutral" with regards to transportation from company-owned packing
plants to the ports of export in Costa Rica.
The carbon credit approach is one of many strategies that Dole is
employing to neutralize the carbon footprint resulting from the
growing, harvesting, packaging and distribution of the company´s
bananas and pineapples in Costa Rica. Reforestation programs are
occurring and thousands of trees are being planted on Dole plantations
in Costa Rica, including local farms and neighboring communities.
Danilo Roman, General Manager of Dole Standard Fruit de Costa Rica
S.A., commented: "Among the many steps we have taken to reduce
emissions at source is optimization of fertilizers to deliver
nutrients more effectively. In this way, we can directly reduce the
emission of nitrous-oxide, a potent green-house gas. We expect that
this program will decrease emissions by over 12% or nearly 9,000 tons
of CO2 equivalents per year."
Renieri Nunez, Pineapple Operations Manager, added: "The Company
has always been a pioneer in environmental good practices. We are now
looking at everything from ways to improve the efficiency of tractors
to employee training to operate machinery in a more fuel efficient
manner, to lowering the carbon footprint of our agricultural
operations. We hope to work together with our supply chain partners in
furthering climate change mitigation practices."
Dole Food Company, Inc., with 2007 revenues of $6.9 billion, is
the world´s largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit
fresh vegetables and fresh-cut flowers. Dole markets a growing line of
packaged and frozen foods and is a produce industry leader in
nutrition education and research.
