SUSTAINABILITY IS CHANGING, BUT THE NEED FOR EXPERTISE ISN’T
For many fresh produce companies, the question is no longer whether sustainability matters. It is how to build the capacity to manage it effectively.
Budgets tighten, roles shift and teams reorganize, but the work does not disappear. Companies still face retailer sustainability requests, greenhouse gas reporting, social responsibility expectations, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and packaging requirements, supply-chain data needs and a growing demand for credible documentation.
These expectations arrive on different timelines and involve different parts of the business. Packaging manages packaging data, human resources tracks workforce information, operations monitors resource use and sales responds to customers. Yet no one necessarily has the time or expertise to connect it all.
That is how companies fall into a reactive cycle: rebuilding information for every request, rushing to meet deadlines and missing opportunities to use the same work for better business decisions.
THE ISSUE IS CAPACITY, NOT COMMITMENT
“Not every fresh produce company needs a large sustainability department. Increasingly, however, companies need access to the capabilities of one,” says Nikki Cossio, founder and CEO of Measure to Improve.
Those capabilities include interpreting requirements, organizing data, coordinating across departments and turning one-time responses into repeatable processes. Expecting one employee to cover strategy, reporting, packaging, emissions, social responsibility and communications is rarely realistic.
Consulting firm Measure to Improve (MTI) works as an extension of a company’s existing team, providing access to specialists across multiple sustainability disciplines who understand fresh produce operations. Clients retain owner ship of their goals and decisions. MTI adds expertise, capacity and continuity while helping internal teams build systems that can evolve alongside changing expectations.
WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE
MTI began working with Duda Farm Fresh Foods in 2019, when sustainable packaging became a company priority. With MTI’s support, Duda established measurable packaging goals and created a process to collect information on the sustainability characteristics of its primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
In 2021, Duda created its cross-functional Growing Greener Generation team. Staff from different departments and growing regions worked together to collect data and establish the company’s Sustainable Packaging Baseline.
The partnership has since expanded to include packaging implementation, EPR preparation, retailer reporting, data management, work relating to the Ethical Charter Implementation Program (ECIP) and greenhouse gas regulations, and continued support for the Growing Greener Generation team.
Just as importantly, Duda’s approach reflects broader organizational alignment. Sustainability is not treated as the responsibility of one person or department, but as a shared business function involving multiple teams.
READINESS CREATES MORE VALUE
A retailer questionnaire, a greenhouse gas inventory and an EPR submission require different information. But they often depend on the same strengths: clear ownership, reliable data, documented processes and coordination.
A company that starts preparing only when a deadline arrives must first determine what information is needed, where it exists and who owns it. A company that has already organized the work can focus instead on improving the quality of its response and using the information more strategically.
That can turn compliance work into something more valuable. Information gathered for one external request can also help a company assess risk, evaluate investments, communicate with customers and prepare for future requirements.
“Compliance may create the immediate need. Readiness creates the longer-term value,” says Cossio. This matters to retailers too. Strong supplier sustainability programs produce more consistent information and a clearer connection between company commitments, operational practices and reported results. That confidence is built through sound processes, not questionnaires alone.
FLEXIBLE EXPERTISE FOR CHANGING NEEDS
For some companies, the priority is stronger strategy and internal alignment. For others, it is meeting a retailer deadline, organizing packaging information for EPR requirements or building a credible greenhouse gas inventory.
“Our role is to help companies address the work in front of them while building systems that make the next request easier to manage,” Cossio says. Sustainability will keep evolving. The need for credible information, practical systems and professionals who understand fresh produce businesses will not.
Measure to Improve will be at the IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show.
