Caption: Jeremy Kalan, senior vice president and treasurer for The Wonderful Company, accepted the 2024 Rabobank Award for Leadership in Sustainability on Thursday, Dec. 5.
The annual celebration recognizes organizations that demonstrate remarkable industry stewardship, sustainability and innovation in food and agribusiness
NEW YORK (December 6, 2024) – Rabobank, a premier global food and agribusiness bank founded 125 years ago and a leading financier of the energy transition, today announced the recipients of its annual prestigious Rabobank North America Leadership Awards. The Wonderful Company, one of the leading agriculture, real estate, and consumer packaged goods companies in the United States, was honored with the 2024 Rabobank Award for Leadership in Sustainability.
This Leadership Award recognizes a high-impact organization that has transformed agriculture through its unique products and has encouraged greater business, environmental, social and governance sustainability. The Wonderful Company – a $6 billion privately held enterprise dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world – was celebrated among 400 guests on Thursday, December 5, during Rabobank’s annual Leadership Summit in New York City. The global company’s portfolio of iconic brands includes FIJI Water, POM Wonderful, Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful Halos, Wonderful Seedless Lemons, Teleflora, and JUSTIN, Landmark, and Lewis Cellars wines.
“Rabobank is thrilled to celebrate The Wonderful Company for exemplifying the intricate interplay between agribusiness and sustainability,” said Terryn Lawrence, Chief Sustainability Officer for Rabobank North America. “The Wonderful Company is a transformative leader by addressing climate change starting with its operations and business practices, investing in critical research while also supporting its community.”
For the past 50 years, The Wonderful Company and its co-owners, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, have focused on producing healthy foods through sustainable farming and business practices. The Resnicks, along with their foundation and company, have invested more than $2.5 billion in education, health and wellness, community development, and sustainability initiatives across California’s Central Valley, Fiji, and the world.
Highlighting the Resnicks’ extraordinary philanthropy and, specifically, their support of sustainability initiatives, last month marked the dedication ceremony for the opening of the Resnick Sustainability Center at Caltech – the result of the Resnicks’ unprecedented $750 million gift, the largest ever gift for sustainability research in Caltech’s history and the second largest to any U.S. academic institution. The Resnick Sustainability Center focuses on innovative research projects that tackle issues of water, energy, food, and waste in a world confronting rapid climate change.
“We’re honored to be recognized by Rabobank as a leader in sustainability,” said Stewart Resnick, chairman of The Wonderful Company. “At every turn, our priority is to incorporate sustainable best practices into our supply chain, farming operations, production, and packaging. Whether it’s transitioning our fallowed land into solar farms, sourcing 100% renewable energy, holistic water management, or responsible sourcing, our goal is to help leave a better, more sustainable planet for future generations. As businesses and individuals, we have a shared responsibility to confront the serious challenges of climate change, so it means a great deal that our commitment to meeting that challenge is highlighted.”
During the Leadership Summit, The Wonderful Company was recognized along with the recipient of the Rabobank Award for Excellence in Corporate Leadership, Lineage, the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehouse REIT. The 2024 Rabobank Award for Emerging Leadership in Innovation was presented to Flashfood, an app for affordable groceries.
The finalists were evaluated by an independent panel of judges representing industry, academia, non-profits, media and the investment ecosystem. Award recipients were selected based on a rigorous set of criteria distinctive to each category.
The Leadership Awards honor large corporations and fast-growing emerging companies that are the touchstone for industry stewardship, sustainability and innovation across the food and agribusiness industry. The awards also recognize companies meeting today’s global economic challenges and answering the critical call for greater social responsibility and community involvement.
About The Wonderful Company
The Wonderful Company is a privately held $6 billion global company dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world. Its iconic brands include FIJI Water, POM Wonderful, Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful Halos, Wonderful Seedless Lemons, Teleflora, and JUSTIN, Landmark, and Lewis Cellars wines.
The Wonderful Company and its co-owners, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, have a long-standing commitment to investing in the communities where their employees live and work, especially in California’s Central Valley, home to 3,000 employees. The Resnicks, along with their foundation and The Wonderful Company, have invested more than $2.5 billion in education, health and wellness, community development, and sustainability initiatives across the Central Valley, Fiji, and the world.
To learn more about The Wonderful Company, its products, and its core values, please visit wonderful.com or follow The Wonderful Company on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. To learn more about the company’s corporate social responsibility impact, visit csr.wonderful.com.
About Rabobank
Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, and real estate services in more than 37 countries worldwide. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank today is one of the world’s largest banks with over $678 billion in assets.
In the Americas, Rabobank Wholesale Banking North America is a premier corporate and investment bank to the food, agribusiness, commodities and energy industries. Rabo AgriFinance, a subsidiary of Rabobank, is a leading financial services provider for farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses in the United States. Together, we provide sector expertise, strategic counsel and tailored financial solutions to clients across the entire value chain. Visit www.RabobankWholesaleBankingNA.com and www.RaboAg.com.
