Successful biodiversity pilot part of Nature’s Pride’s new people and nature ambitions

Care for people and nature at the heart of the business

Since the establishment of Nature’s Pride in 2001, care for people and nature has always been at the heart of the business. By setting targeted goals, a progressive mindset and working together throughout the chain, the company has introduced several standards in the value chain. After introducing social audits and water audits as the first in the sector, Nature’s Pride now is the first to pilot the new Biodiversity add on outside of Europe. The BioDiversity add-on is a farm-level audit, created by Lidl and GLOBAL.G.A.P. . c/o FoodPLUS GmbH, that helps growers demonstrate their biodiversity management practices to retailers and traders. It monitors, enhances, and protects key on-farm biodiversity aspects, raising awareness and providing guidance on the development of a comprehensive biodiversity action plan. 

‘To ensure that the thousands of people in our chain can use their talents and everyone can enjoy healthy food today and tomorrow, we very consciously make progressive choices in our responsibility for our care for people and nature. We are convinced that only by working together across the ecosystem, we can really continue to make the necessary difference. I'm very proud that Nature’s Pride, together with our dedicated growers, has now piloted this new and scalable approach to map on-farm biodiversity management practices. This way, we can better measure the work to further improve together on our journey to a better world. , says Adriëlle Dankier, Chief Executive Officer of Nature's Pride.

One of the world's most precious resources

‘Biodiversity – the huge variety of life on earth, encompassing animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi – is one of the world’s most precious resources. The protection, restoration, and enhancement of on-farm biodiversity is under increasing scrutiny across the value chain and now represents a major concern for brand owners, retailers, and consumers alike. BioDiversity offers a practical and cost-efficient path for producers to implement and demonstrate farm-level best practices that contribute to the sustainability of surrounding ecosystems’, says Elmé Coetzer-Boersma, Managing Director of GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH.

During the visit from Nature’s Pride and GLOBALG.A.P., five farms from growers Unlimited Group and ZZ2 in South Africa successfully piloted the BioDiversity add-on. During Fruit Logistica, growers were presented with a butterfly statuette by Nature's Pride, in appreciation of their efforts to conserve biodiversity.

‘More than two decades ago ZZ2 decided to steer away from conventional agriculture towards farming in harmony with nature. We put a lot of effort and resources into our ‘Natuurboerdery’ concept and today ZZ2 implements a wide array of practices that protect and enhance biodiversity in and around our farms. We are delighted to be able to independently verify and formally document these best practices through the pilot we did with Nature’s Pride’, says Clive Garrett, Marketing Manager at ZZ2.

‘Nature is the basis of our operations’, says Hans Muylaert-Gelein, Managing Director of Unlimited Group. ‘Protecting her means protecting our business and the jobs we create for our communities. Doing the pilot was a helpful exercise to structure our activities in the field of biodiversity and be able to present them in a comprehensive and convincing way to the outside world.’

In the coming period, Nature's Pride will take its partners along in the ambitions towards 2028, the goals and associated roadmap in its care for people and nature, to making further strides together.