Be a Good Seed: NatureSweet Raises the Bar for Agricultural Labor Standards

When you buy tomatoes at the grocery store, you probably don't think about who picked them and whether the people behind the product are being treated fairly. The agricultural industry has long been criticized for the treatment of its workers due to poor working conditions, low wages and limited access to health care.

NatureSweet, a production company known for its greenhouse growing methods, also focuses on humane and fair approaches to labor management. The company hopes its example will take root in the industry. The snack tomato company pays workers competitively, provides training opportunities and encourages them to complete their degrees. More than 2,000 associates have benefited from these programs. This year, the company launched a pilot program for employees to earn their bachelor's degree in agriculture, with 30 team members expected to graduate in 2028.

NatureSweet has achieved three significant social and environmental certifications: Fair Trade, Equitable Food Initiative (EFI), and most recently B Corp certification, becoming the largest controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company in the world. I caught up with NatureSweet President and CEO Rodolfo Spielmann to discuss the tomato snack brand's social and environmental initiatives and what the future holds for the company.

Christopher Marquis: NatureSweet employs over 6,000 agricultural workers, and much of your social mission is centered around them. Can you say more? Also, are there any financial trade-offs the company faced in this work?

Rodolfo Spielmann, President and CEO of NatureSweet

NatureSweet

Spielmann: Over 30 years ago, we started the company with a commitment to transforming the agricultural industry. Today, our associates earn nearly 40% more than the median wage for agricultural workers in Mexico and have access to educational programs, psychological and health services. I firmly believe that we have the best and most talented people creating the best tasting product in the industry. Our associates create a difference you can taste. They are able to do this, in part because NatureSweet has a favorable environment in which it is worth staying, growing and thriving.

For example, our turnover rate is less than 1% per month in an industry where the average employee turnover rate is between 150 and 250% per year. Because they stay and grow, our associates know the best practices in terms of quality and safety, and they know our product inside out. Treating employees well is a virtuous circle: we invest money in our associates and they take care of the products as if they belong to them in return.

As to your question about trade-offs, there is a false dichotomy between treating workers with dignity and being profitable. At NatureSweet, we don't ask ourselves the question "How can we be profitable if we do this?" We are profitable because we treat our employees well. This is our business model. There is no conflict.

Christopher Marquis: Congratulations on your recent B Corp certification. As a large, labor-intensive company, I know this must have been a challenge. Can you tell more about the certification process and what you learned?

Spielmann: You're right. It can be complicated to achieve B Corp certification when you have a large company with large operations because scale is not working in your favor. It works against you. As one of the founders of the Equitable Food Initiative, we've been focused on the good stuff for a long time, so that wasn't a big hurdle for us. We see it more as an obvious step in our evolution to transform the lives of agricultural workers in North America. We are the largest Fair Trade and EFI certified CEA company. The B Corp certification process helped us refine many internal processes and opened our eyes to opportunities we hadn't seen. Because we have it in our DNA, we were able to quickly identify these opportunities and exploit them. Our B Corp journey didn't require our company to change who we are. He simply asked us to improve.

Christopher Marquis: Can you say more about the sequel to NatureSweet?

Spielmann: We are committed to continued strong growth and to providing consumers with the highest quality products. Consumers can be sure that NatureSweet products will always taste great and come from a proud worker who has put all his effort into the g...