Nutiva was one of the first companies to join the Climate Collaborative in 2017 and has made five climate action commitments, to: Regenerative Agriculture, Energy Efficiency, Food Waste, Packaging, and Transportation. They are also a champion-level donor, helping catalyze action and resource provision to our network of 660 companies. We sat down with them to check in on their climate action, detailed in their new 2019 Impact Report.

Climate is core to company mission at Nutiva; the company’s founding purpose is to revolutionize the way the world eats with ethical, regenerative superfoods to nurture people and planet back to health. In the past year, Nutiva have focused their efforts on three key areas:

• Strengthening sustainability across their supply chain, especially in new product development efforts
• Packaging innovations to reduce the carbon footprint of all their packages
• Working to improve gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion across the company and across the industry through the JEDI Collaborative

“Regenerative farming is core to our revolutionary mission and a powerful tool to reduce atmospheric carbon in our and protect biodiversity. In 2019, we were not only actively in engaged regenerative farming practices in our supply chain, but also in teaching and training regenerative practices to farming communities around the world through our 1% program,” said Nutiva CEO Steve Naccarato. “To further reduce our carbon footprint, we’ve invested in new CO2 Conscious packaging: a bold first step on our path towards carbon neutral packaging that’s already cutting emissions by 84%.”

Regenerative agriculture: As a mission-driven company, Nutiva has always worked to support a healthier planet by investing in the farming communities they work with.

Their new line of Organic Avocado Oil is farmed cooperatively with over 35,000 independent organic farmers in Ethiopia. Through farmer field schools, they are training farmers in regenerative practices that are helping to improve soil heal and reduce climate risk, improve yields and increase food security.

They have also continued to support soil health through their red palm supply chain In Ecuador, which helps family farmers transition to regenerative systems and support the continued refinement of natural organic fertilization programs.

They have also made significant investment in the Philippines, where the majority of their coconuts are grown. 100,000 seedlings donated five years ago are now contributing to farmers livelihoods, and Nutiva has since committed to new environmental programs that will further biodiversity in coconut supply chains through crop diversification. This biodiversity will further support our farmer communities with added revenue streams and support the health of the planet with healthier soil that will absorb more atmospheric CO₂.

Science proves that regenerative agriculture has the power to reverse global warming, but to achieve this it needs to be done at scale. To educate the world about the power of regenerative agriculture, Nutiva has been a proud supporter and partner of Kiss the Ground and helped to fund and produce their recently released self-titled Netflix film that proves we can heal the planet by healing our soil.
 

Packaging: Nutiva is reducing their packaging and transportation footprint by switching to flexible packaging, which reduces the carbon intensity of packaging production by over 90% compared to plastic bottles. It also makes their transportation more efficient: 1 truckload of flexible pouches carries the equivalent load of 26 truckloads of plastic bottles. Their next goal is recyclable and compostable flexible packaging for Nutiva products to replace plastic, and they’ll be testing recyclable flexible packages in 2021.

“We, as leaders in both business and policy, have a responsibility to align on decisions that prioritize the well-being of our communities and our planet. Nutiva believes it is time to build a resilient economy, mitigate climate risk, and ensure a thriving future by making smart investments in regenerative agriculture and clean energy,” said Steve Naccarato, their CEO.

They don’t get it done alone. Nutiva partners with Soil Not Oil, Hemp History Week, Fair Trade USA, and others in climate activism, to help move their impact beyond their direct impact and supply chains. They’ve also dedicated 1% of sales to sustainable and regenerative agriculture since the company was founded in 1999. With over $5.5 million invested, every Nutiva product sold over 20 years has helped to build, grow and support regenerative food systems through expanding sustainable and ethical farming practices and supporting diverse communities.