Spanish produce group SanLucar spent €7 million on social and environmental projects around the world from 2013-2015, which will be shown in detail in a report to be presented at Fruit Logistica in Berlin in early February.

In a release, the company said the fourth edition of its corporate responsibility report - with the title "Commitment makes the difference" - will also outline objectives and goals until the year 2020, as well as initiatives undertaken in Spain, Germany, Austria, Ecuador, Tunisia and South Africa.

"Corporate Responsibility is an essential part of our business, and this is the reason why our actions concerning social and environmental matters are completely integrated in our global company strategy," CEO Stephan Rötzer said.

"Our daily activity is based on five fields of action: excellent taste ofour products, safety and health at work, environmental protection, education and knowledge exchange as well as the fulfillment of dreams for all the members of the communities where SanLucar is established."

During industry event Fruit Attraction in Madrid last year, Rötzer told www.freshfruitportal.com about the group's socially sensitive soup kitchen in Spain as well as broad social initiatives in Tunisia.

"If you go in like a colonialist, you will be treated like a colonialist," he said at the time.

"If you want to live together in the environment, there's only one thing you can do - become part of it."

In terms of environmentally-focused projects, the release highlighted more efficient irrigation in Tunisia, an energy saving program at a German warehouse and solar panels for the group's Austrian office.

By launching this latest initiative, SanLucar has been able to reduce the CO₂ emissions by 61 tons, thanks to a more efficient and environmentally friendly LED lighting system.

"Sometimes it's hard to imagine the importance of this type of actions, but to have an idea it would be necessary to plant approximately 5.000 trees to counteract this amount of contaminating emissions," the executive said.

SanLucar has also given its employees a boost with awareness programs about the importance of sport and good nutrition, particularly in Spain, Germany and Austria.

Additionally, the company took the example of its Spanish employee training project to form the SanLucar Academy in Ecuador, with education and further training a priority.

The corporate social responsibility report will be available in three languages - English, German and Spanish - at the company's stand at the trade fair, and will be available for download from the SanLucar website as of Feb. 15.

www.freshfruitportal.com