Hans Sauter on product innovation
From Prioritizing Sustainable Agriculture with Hans Sauter of Fresh Del Monte · · Impact with John Shegerian
“Pineapples are our flagship product and we have commanded the leadership of that market for decades. We innovated with the Del Monte Gold variety 25 years ago and more recently with the pink glow, a bioengineered GMO pineapple, and now the Ruby Glow, developed with traditional breeding techniques.”
On , Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer & Senior Vice President of Corporate R&D, QA and Agricultural Services at FRESH DEL MONTE PRODUCE INC, spoke about product innovation during Prioritizing Sustainable Agriculture with Hans Sauter of Fresh Del Monte on Impact with John Shegerian.
About Hans Sauter
Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate R&D, QA and Agricultural Services at Fresh Del Monte Produce, discussed the company’s sustainability efforts and challenges in a September 2024 podcast interview. He stated that climate change is making agricultural conditions tougher and requiring more inputs to produce the same amount of food. Sauter noted that Fresh Del Monte has a direct exposure to Tropical Race 4 (TR4), a fungal disease affecting bananas, in its Philippines operations, and described the disease as remaining in the soil for decades and making farms unsustainable after a few years. He said the company has invested in developing a resistant variety to TR4 in collaboration with other organizations. Sauter highlighted Fresh Del Monte’s innovations, including the Del Monte Gold pineapple, the bioengineered Pink Glow pineapple, and the Ruby Glow pineapple developed through traditional breeding. He said the company is close to reaching its Science Based Targets initiative goal of reducing scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 27.5%. Sauter also noted that bringing regenerative agriculture to tropical crops requires significant scientific research, as these crops have not received the same level of university research as temperate crops. He added that artificial intelligence has a role in agriculture, enabling precise, timely decisions at the acre or square foot level to save inputs and reduce environmental impact.