Fruit

About 180 types of fruits are commercially grown worldwide, representing a global production of almost 600 million tonnes per year. While on average 60 per cent is consumed in the country of production, 30 per cent is processed and 10 per cent is exported without transformation. Melons constitute around one fifth of fresh fruit production world wide, followed closely by citrus fruits, bananas, apples, pears, grapes, peaches, pineapples and mangoes. For fruits which are processed into juice, oranges represents over one third of the total, followed by apples, grape fruits, grapes and pineapples.

SAI Platform Working Group on Fruits was created to promote the sustainable production of fruits worldwide - in temperate and in tropical zones as well as from fruit plants and trees. The WG issued a Mission Statement outlining the Working Group's vision and overall approach, as well as Principles and Practices for Sustainable Fruit Production, which have beed recently been published.

The group members at the moment are exploring the issue of green house gas emissions from fruit production.

Active members of the Working Group are: The Coca Cola Company, Danone, Royal Friesland Campina, Heineken, Innocent Drinks, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever. Chairman: Ernesto Brovelli, PhD, The Coca Cola Company; Co-Chair: Sikke Meerman, Unilever.