thoughtleaders
BY SUSAN K. LACEFIELD, ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR
Going green
with a little help from his friends
INTERVIEW WITH DEVERL MASERANG
Internal sustainability programs will only
get you so far, says Deverl Maserang of
Chiquita Brands. But bring your carriers
into the picture, and you stand to make
noteworthy gains.
IF THERE’S ONE THING THAT DEVERL
Maserang believes passionately, it’s this:
Distribution and supply chain management is
all about relationships. If you’re looking to
improve performance in your distribution network, says Maserang, who is vice president of
North America product supply and logistics for
Chiquita Brands, you’re not going to get very far
on your own. For truly meaningful results, you
have to work collaboratively with your carrier
partners.
So when the fresh fruit and vegetable company launched a fuel efficiency program in 2007, it
was a given that Maserang and his team would
enlist their carriers’ help. At its carrier conference that year, Chiquita brought in industry
experts to talk about today’s eco imperatives as
well as techniques for cutting an operation’s
carbon footprint. The company also urged its
carriers to sign on with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Smart Way Transport
Program, a collaborative initiative between government and the freight sector to boost energy
efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(In order to participate in the program, a carrier must agree to reduce emissions by a certain
percentage each year.)
The results have been impressive. Under
Maserang’s direction, Chiquita has cut CO2
emissions by 44 percent in its North American
transportation/distribution network. On top of
that, it has boosted fuel efficiency by 9 percent
in the past year and reduced food miles (the distance food is transported from the place where
it’s grown to the point of consumption) by 8. 3
percent.
