Village Farms Fresh has been recognized as a 'Giga Guru' by its customer Walmart through its sustainability initiative 'Project Gigaton.' There are currently over 6000 Walmart suppliers participating in Project Gigaton and Village Farms Fresh is in the top 18 percent of suppliers who have earned the Giga Guru status. This milestone collectively with other suppliers' actions reported is expected to reduce, avoid, or sequester over one gigaton of CO² emissions which helped Walmart to reach its intended goal six years early. Walmart reports this is equivalent to taking 238 million cars off the road for one year.
According to Walmart's website, Project Gigaton's focus is to "reduce, avoid, or sequester 1 billion metric tons of CO² emissions in their global value chain and, together with the Walmart Foundation, to protect, restore or more sustainably manage 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030."
The Giga Guru supplier recognition status Village Farms was given is for companies who set SMART goals in at least three pillars of action or science-based targets, report progress in each, complete a carbon footprint scope, and then share this information with Walmart.
Village Farms Fresh has been participating in the project since it began in 2017. Project Gigaton was enacted by Walmart to engage suppliers in climate action since the retailer believes most emissions exist in the product supply chains rather than their stores and distribution centers. The Giga Guru supplier recognition status is given to companies who set SMART goals in at least three pillars of action or science-based targets, report progress in each, complete a carbon footprint scope and then share this information with Walmart.
"Village Farms Fresh has always been an environmentally conscious company and Project Gigaton helps us to ensure we are staying on track and remaining open to new ideas on how to better improve our processes for reducing emissions," says Brandon Jamison, director of quality assurance for the company, who is the project lead for the company's teams tracking and reporting for the initiative. Jamison also foresees future opportunities for implementing a companywide tracking system to continually monitor data and archive results collected pertaining to the areas of focus.
Project Gigaton aligns with Village Farms Fresh's Good for the Earth initiative. In 2022, Helen L. Aquino, director of brand marketing & communication for Village Farms Fresh spoke with Walmart's Project Gigaton, a sustainability performance survey measuring tool, THESIS Index, created by The Sustainability Consortium, on the company's process. "We started small as a basis for the project by recognizing our strengths. Building on these, it has been a great learning tool in the evolution of our sustainability goals," says Aquino.
To learn more about Village Farms Fresh's efforts pertaining to Walmart's Project Gigaton click here.
For more information visit
Helen L. Aquino
Village Farms
Tel: +1 (407) 936-1190 x312
www.villagefarms.com