Mexico City, June 17, 2024 – Within the framework of World Sustainable Gastronomy Day, Grupo Herdez® presented the achievements of its Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture program that impacts around 1,800 hectares of crops throughout the country.
In 2023, the company acquired more than 146 thousand tons of agricultural and beekeeping raw materials, of which 50% correspond to suppliers participating in this program. This considers the main raw materials with which it produces sauces, tomato puree, canned vegetables, chili peppers and canned nopales, both for the domestic market and for export to the United States.
Through the Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture program, the production practices of agricultural suppliers are guided, trained, supervised and monitored to not only guarantee the quality of the products, but also ensure the lowest environmental impact of food production.
In 2023, faced with low water availability for farmers in the Pacific area, such as Sonora and Sinaloa, where tomatoes for Del Fuerte® are grown, suppliers implemented the drip irrigation technique to ensure annual production, reducing up to 60% water use.
This method has proven to be the most efficient water consumption method, especially in widely spaced crops; since, by offering a slow distribution of the vital liquid, its consumption is lower and maximizes the use by the crops.
The Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture program of Grupo Herdez® began in 2008, as a method of quality control of raw materials, to comply with regulatory requirements for export products. In its 16 years of operation, it has evolved to become a key action of Grupo Herdez’s sustainability strategy to promote a sustainable food industry.
The program is governed by a manual of good agricultural practices, which considers sustainability criteria such as the preservation of biodiversity, integrated crop management, reduction in the use of agrochemicals, among others that directly contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 12 of Production and Responsible Consumption.