Profile

Standard Fruit Honduras S.A. (SFH) is an agricultural company dedicated to the production and export of high-quality fresh bananas, located in La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras. It was founded in 1899 as a division of Dole Tropical Products, a subsidiary of Dole Food Company Inc. with over a century of operations in Honduras. The company has contributed to the development of the communities where it operates, receiving an unconditional and productive workforce and fertile land for cultivation. In its more than 1,800 hectares the company is committed to complying with all laws and regulations, as well as all obligations that Standard Fruit Honduras voluntarily subscribes to, in order to run a social and environmental friendly business.

In order to supply its clients with the best fruit quality, it has been developing and implementing environmental friendly practices and social responsibility programs for the welfare of workers and their families. To that end, it has an employment relationship based on respect for human dignity, internationally recognized ethical principles, fostering a climate of trust, open and frank with all communication and promoting a work environment that ensures respect for the worker and the environment.

Standard Fruit de Honduras SA maintains certified social responsibility and environmental programs that are recognized internationally, including Global GAP (From 2007), ISO 14001:2004 (From 1999), ISO 9001:2008 (From 2000) and Rainforest Alliance (From 2014) standards.

Achievements

1. Responsible Water Use
For Standard Fruit de Honduras S.A. one of the most valuable resources in their banana plantations is the water, which is why we have developed policies, methodologies and investments through projects under the environmental management program, aimed at responsible use of water. The main actions undertaken are described in two specific areas:

a. Water for Irrigation of Crops
Physically the more than 1,800 hectares of crops have been segregated into irrigation groups, which have 15 hectares on average, grouped taking into account soil characteristics. In each irrigation group it had been defined 5-point soil sampling, which are monitored weekly using TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry), in order to verify and adjust the values of soil moisture. Additionally, at different points and in 2 weather stations installed on the farms, the methodology implemented to determine the need for irrigation is based on daily measurements of the following parameters:

• Minimum and Maximum temperature. 
• Rain the previous day.
• Daily evaporation.
• Relative humidity.

With this data and using mathematical calculations of developed formulas and including the capabilities of each field irrigation group and crop factor; the estimated need for water irrigation for each crop group is determined. There is a maintenance program and continuous review of the irrigation systems, in order to eliminate leaks and make an efficient use of water according to crop need. It also takes into account the use of water for the formation of the soil and the network of primary, secondary and tertiary drains to reduce runoff and soil erosion.

b. Water in the Process of Fruit Package
As part of the environmental program, investments has been made in the construction of recycled water systems in bananas packinghouses, in order to minimize the impact on the use of water from underground sources, extracted from wells. This has allowed that 8 of 9 packinghouses have these operating systems up to date. These systems have enabled packaging processes with an average of annual consumption less than 50 liters per box, and improving every day, compared to the 150 liters average per box of the industry in packinghouses without re-circulated systems.

Additionally there are policies and staff training programs in the efficient use of water, plus a program of preventive maintenance in order to prevent and correct leaks in packing plants, offices. Currently the company has a packinghouse, which has innovated the industry by eliminating the use of water tanks for the de-latex process, making this a dry process, substantially reducing the consumption of water.

All sources of groundwater used in the packing process and irrigation of crops have the permissions required by the competent authorities and are maintained and protected to prevent contamination by agrochemicals derived from applications maintaining living barriers, training staff and avoiding the use of agrochemicals on buffer areas. It also has a program of regular monitoring of the physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of water sources and water effluents, in order to monitor and ensure compliance with applicable legal standards.

2. Increasing Biodiversity

Our social responsibility program in the area of environment and biodiversity include the following:
• Monthly contribution to a project with the Falls Brook Centre NGO, with the aim of increasing the biodiversity, biomass production and ecological productivity, and allow dispersion of species of flora and fauna in the Biological Corridor Salado Barra.
• Monthly contribution to Cuero y Salado (FUCSA) Foundation, with the goal of improving the quality of life of communities, facilitating the protection, conservation and restoration of natural resources wildlife refuge, which provides habitat for manatees (Trichecus manatus), endangered species.
• Establishment of greenhouses for donating trees to schools and colleges of the areas of influence, and for the reforestation of river basins, parks and green areas.
• Protection of natural regeneration areas unfit for cultivation, in order to create ecosystems within the production area, developing connectivity between ecosystems.

3. Social Responsibility

In Standard Fruit de Honduras SA since 1899 we have contributed to socio-economic development of the communities we serve, focusing our efforts on projects in the areas of education, health, nutrition, community development and environment. The following is a summary of ongoing projects in each of the focus areas:

a. Education:

Education is a cornerstone of the development of people, which is why we support in the following ways:

                                      i.     More than 65 scholarships at primary, secondary and university level for poor people education.

                                    ii.     Monthly monetary contribution to 24 educational institutions in the area of influence.

                                   iii.     Donation of educational materials for the less privileged students.

                                  iv.     Preparation of piñatas by staff and donation of these with sweets for the celebration of Children's Day.

                                    v.     Repair of public school facilities in the area.

                                  vi.     Training of trainers for literacy programs in the areas.

                                 vii.     Training of 24 young people (20 women and 4 men) in an entrepreneurship program.

                               viii.     Collaboration with NGOs such as School The World in programs for improving the quality of education in the world.

  b.     Health & Nutrition:

Contributing to the health of the people of the areas of influence, we improved their quality of life, so we work as follows:

                                      i.     Support medical brigade The Robinson Foundation, aimed at care free plastic and reconstructive surgery, twice a year in our areas of influence.

                                    ii.     Support medical brigade The Hemwall Hackett Foundation, aimed to free medical and dental care, once a year in our areas of influence.

                                   iii.     Support Medical Brigade Surgical Eye Expeditions International, aimed at free eye surgeries once a year.

                                  iv.     As part of our maintenance personnel, 3 brigades for the control and monitoring of dengue and malaria in 81 surrounding villages, in coordination with the Ministry of Health of Honduras, covering approximately 43,000 inhabitants. The program covers surveillance, treatment of positive cases, blood surveys, treatment and elimination of mosquito breeding sites, intra and extra-domiciliary spraying and cleaning campaigns and training for school children and the general population.

                                    v.     Donations and contributions to public hospitals and the Red Cross of the area.

                                  vi.     Assist with Dia del Campesino: Twice weekly fruit is donated to all people of the surrounding communities in which we operate, which serves as a part of the primary diet in the area.

                                 vii.     Fruit donation to the Children's Home, an institution dedicated to the care of at-risk children that provides education, soup kitchens, and agricultural projects as well as promotes micro entrepreneurship.

                               viii.     Monthly Fruit donation to Life and Hope Foundation, an institution dedicated to training on prevention of diabetes and heart disease to people around the community.

c. Community Development:

We go hand to hand with the growth making us more socially responsible to the development of communities of influence, so we work with the following projects:

                                      i.     Monthly Contribution to the Love and Life Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated that provides affection, protection, and comprehensive care to children orphaned or infected by HIV / AIDS.

                                    ii.     Monthly contribution to Divine Providence Nursing Home, a non-profit organization that provides housing, feeding, nursing, medicine and funeral services to seniors in La Ceiba and surroundings.

                                   iii.     Monthly contribution to the Casa Feliz Foundation home that provides protection for minor children in social risk condition.

                                  iv.     Monthly contribution to SOS Villages.

                                    v.     Additionally other organizations are being supported like TELETON Honduras, Permanent Contingency Commission (COPECO), Ministry of Health, etc., by donating lean fuel.

                                  vi.     CropLife Honduras Partner.
4.     Role & Involvement of Women/Youth

Standard Fruit de Honduras believes that youth and women are crucial to the economy of any community and represents a large part of the agricultural labor worldwide. For this reason, Standard Fruit de Honduras as a socially responsible company, has a program to involve rural women and youth in the production process by providing them to the same access as men to the agricultural resources, contributing to improve their life level. Therefore, we maintain a significant percentage of women and youth in our productive work force as shown below:

a.     Women represent 57 percent of the packinghouses total workforce.

b.     Youth (Ages from 18 – 25) represent 22 percent of the total workforce