Achieving Sustainability Certification in Guatemala
Charlotte Smit-Gunter (left,) MPS coordinator – USA, presented MPS certification awards to Carl Kroon (center), Dümmen Orange supply chain regional director – The Americas, and Keith Cable (right), Dümmen Orange North America president, during CAST 2023 in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Apr. 20, 2023) – Dümmen Orange is on track with sustainability certification for its production sites worldwide. Last year, five sites in four countries were added to the list of fully certified companies. The global leader in the floricultural industry wants all its production sites to be fully certified to Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) standards by January 2025 and is using the industry accepted MPS certification to achieve this. Dümmen Orange expects to complete the certification process before that deadline.
During CAST 2023, a representative from MPS presented Dümmen Orange leadership with official certification awards for both of its farms in Guatemala. Oro Farms, located in El Jocotillo, and Antigua Flowers, located in Alotenango, received their MPS-Socially Qualified certification to go along with their previous MPS-ABC and MPS-GAP certifications.
“We have a long-standing cooperation with Dümmen Orange on measuring and certifying their sustainability efforts,” said MPS area manager Arthij van der Veer. “Earning the MPS-Socially Qualified certification in Guatemala at both of the company’s production sites really highlights the importance of sustainability and displays the commitment of everyone on the farms and within their global operation.”
Improvements include mandatory hygiene measures for people and locations to keep plants clean from pests and diseases, expanded worker and family benefits along with delivering healthy starting material to growers worldwide.
“Having a unique look at the efforts that Dümmen Orange employees go through on a daily basis was fascinating to watch,” said Van der Veer. “We are humbled to be part of the journey that this industry leader took to reach the highest sustainability standards around. The MPS Group congratulates Dümmen Orange’s Guatemala employees for this great achievement.”
The MPS Group is committed to making the global horticulture sector more sustainable. Recipients of MPS certification impose stringent requirements in terms of the environment, traceability, safety, hygiene, and social conditions at all global sites. These industry standards enable companies like Dümmen Orange to achieve a transparent, measurable horticultural sector.
“Responsibility for people and the environment is one of our core company values,” said Keith Cable, Dümmen Orange North America president. “With this starting point, we designed an ambitious sustainability agenda which covers the environment, social and technological development. Our strategy includes clear certification goals which are incredibly important to measuring and making our efforts transparent.”
MPS supports horticultural entrepreneurs worldwide in their efforts to operate more sustainably. MPS offers the certification standards MPS-ABC, MPS-GAP and MPS-Socially Qualified (SQ), among others. MPS-ABC is a monitoring tool that helps companies make the necessary adjustment to reduce their environmental impact. MPS-GAP is an entry certificate that allows deliveries to be made to international retailers. With that certificate, Dümmen Orange complies with requirements in areas such as traceability, environment, crop protection products and recall procedures. The MPS-SQ certificate covers working conditions and is based in part on the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) standards. With this certificate, Dümmen Orange demonstrates that it meets the international requirements in the field of health and safety.