b'S C S A F O O D B U S I N E S S - Q & ACEO Spotlight: Sitting Down with Fyffes Helge Sparsoe to Talk Strategy, Sustainability and Leading through a PandemicCOMIDA In July 2020, Helge Sparsoe took over as CEO of our Group Company Fyffesthe largest importer of Fairtrade certified bananas in the world and the biggest melon importer in North America. We spoke with Sparsoe about taking the helm of this produce supply giant in the midst of a pandemic and the other challenges of his position.What has been your biggest leadership challenge as Fyffes CEO so far, and what have you learned from of being a CEO during a global pandemic?The greatest challenge I have faced as CEO of Fyffes is no doubt the global pandemic itself. Like many international businesses, we are facing greater supply chain friction due to the measures being put in placeIn a people business, the most important thing is to by governments to keep people safe from COVID-19.keep people safe, so that is the first challenge I would As we are seeing in many markets, input costs are alsolike to call out. I have been really impressed by the rising due to shortages as the world ramps back upway our leaders stayed ahead of the government to a more normal supply and demand pattern. Noneguidelines in local markets, providing testing kits, PPE of this is unique to Fyffes but to become CEO of aand introducing social distancing and sanitisation. I am company during this period was challenging. humbled by the response of our employees every-Fyffes is a people business. We employ thousandswhere who have embraced those measures and rolled of people in Latin America who are responsible forup their sleeves when the vaccines became available. growing and harvesting our fruit in excellent condi- One of my first tasks was to get to know the busi-tion. In our logistics and shipping we employ peopleness. Instead of visiting my colleagues and seeing the who are responsible for ensuring the right volume ofbusinesses first hand, we had to rely on virtual en-bananas, pineapples, melons and other tropical freshgagement, which is never the same as face to face. My produce, reaches their destination at the right time,priority was to implement a new strategy for Fyffes, meeting the incredible demand from consumers whoincluding the introduction of our five values; respect, focused more on health and nutrition during the pan- energy, win together, thrive and integrity. Instead of demic. In our consumption markets, we rely on peoplegetting all the leaders together to work on this, we had who ripen, distribute and market our produce andto meet virtually over a number of workshops. keep the supermarket shelves stocked and now, thanksIn recent months, as restrictions have eased, I have to the opening up of society, to the wholesalers whobeen able to visit more of our businesses, both in sell to hotels and restaurants. Europe, the US and Latin America. I really value the face-to-face contactnothing beats sitting down with Our new vision shapingyour team and having lunch together to forge a closer wellbeing for the worldworking relationship.places sustainability andCreating alternative applications for Fyffes core prod-shared value with ouructs helps reduce waste production. How did this idea growers and customers ascome about? our focus. We will do this by placing the consumer at theFood loss (post-harvest) and food waste (once it reach-heart of everything we do,es the supermarket shelves) contribute aboutinvesting in ground-breaking7% to global greenhouse gases that result from the innovation to set us apartwasted energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, and relentlessly striving transport and package food. Food that ends up in for operational and landfill produces methane which is 84 times more organisational excellence. continued next pageSumitomo Corporation of Americas 11'