Dole Asia Holdings, a unit of international agricultural giant Dole, has announced the launch of “Sunshine for All” fund.
With a corpus of US$2 million, the fund will seek to support global strategic partnerships and innovation in areas of sustainability, food access and waste.
e27 has reached out to Dole Asia for more information regarding the fund. This story will be updated as and when the company share the details.
The fund is part of the firm’s larger “Dole Promise” initiative launched in 2020. Through the initiative, it aims to accomplish goals including providing access to sustainable nutrition for one billion people by 2025, having zero fossil-based plastic packaging by 2025, and net-zero carbon emissions in operations by 2030, among others.
The company is seeking partners — from entrepreneurs, startups, strategic thinking to social impact enterprises and NGOs — to bring their expertise in food production, nutritional science, compostable packaging, supply chain, logistics, sustainable agriculture and fast-moving consumer goods, to bear.
By partnering with them, the fund will address these gaps of affordability and waste, as well as accessibility and acceptability.
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Dole’s drive to promote good nutrition could not come sooner. Nearly 25 per cent of the world’s population is experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity as one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted.
“We have given ourselves five years to deliver on our ambitious goals and innovations that can move us quickly forward. Our ambition is to partner with innovators and to open up opportunities for immense evolution and tangible solutions. This will be a key enabler to continue to make our business a force for good.” said Christian Wiegele, President, Dole Asia Fresh.
“Our work to bring Sunshine for All during the pandemic reinforced our belief that people will join us when they believe in what we do. The fund is our signal to the world that we are open for business and that business is finding, fuelling and fostering innovation, actions and change,” said Barbara Guerpillon, Global Head of Ventures, Dole Packaged Foods and Asia Fresh.
The fund was launched in tandem with The Growing Distance, a short film that addresses the critical gaps the company sees as barriers to good nutrition for all.
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