Worldwide Fruit Named Climate Champion of the Year at 2026 FPC Fresh Awards

Worldwide Fruit Limited has been named Climate Champion of the Year at the 2026 FPC Fresh Awards, held on 25 September in London, in recognition of years of work turning climate ambition into practical, measurable action across orchards and its wider grower network.

An evening celebrating the industry’s best

The award was presented on Friday, 25 September, at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London. The FPC Fresh Awards bring together around 750 people from across the British and international fresh produce industry each year — an event often described as the “Fresh Produce Oscars”.

The Climate Champion of the Year title recognises more than a single project or initiative. According to the organisers’ partners, it honours years of work to integrate carbon, soil health, water, biodiversity, climate resilience and farm economics into one evidence-led approach within a working farming system.

Model Farms at the heart of the win

The judges singled out Worldwide Fruit’s Model Farm approach. Rather than testing regenerative practices on demonstration plots removed from commercial reality, the company uses working commercial orchards — including Chandler & Dunn in the United Kingdom and Dennegeur in South Africa — as learning sites where regenerative practices are assessed under real farming conditions and outcomes are measured in ways growers can trust.

The Climate Champion of the Year award recognises Worldwide Fruit’s Model Farm approach to regenerative fruit production. (Image: Watan News)

Growers sit at the centre of the programme. Much of what the company now measures and shares began in orchards, where farmers experimented with soil health, water use, biodiversity and nutrient cycling — motivated, the partners say, by a desire to leave the land in better condition for the next generation.

From ambition to evidence

Measurement underpins the whole strategy. During 2025, Worldwide Fruit’s Product Carbon Footprinting programme expanded to 35 sites across 25 key suppliers, using the Confronting Climate Change (CCC) carbon footprinting platform developed by Blue North to build a clearer picture of emissions and hotspots across key fruit supply chains.

The same partnership supports the company’s United Kingdom pome emissions and removals programme, which assesses farm emissions alongside selected carbon sinks to strengthen the evidence base for future climate action. Together with the Model Farms and the company’s seven-pillar Regen Roadmap, the programme provides a practical framework for turning evidence into action.

Learning is shared openly rather than kept on individual farms. Grower case studies, Model Farm updates, scorecard insights and carbon evidence feed into the company’s Resilience Hub and Knowledge Hub, designed to make grower-led learning accessible across the wider supply base.

The judges’ verdict

The awards judges captured the approach in their citation: “Worldwide Fruit is showing growers not simply why they need to change, but how to change, how to measure progress, and how to share what they learn.”

Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, praised the winners for “helping to shape the future of our industry and setting an example for others to follow.”

The Climate Champion title was not Worldwide Fruit’s only recognition on the night. The company was also a finalist for Net Zero Impact, Sustainability Excellence: Ethical, Sustainability Excellence: Supply Chain and Best Marketing Campaign for its British Jazz apple campaign.

Key facts

• Winner: Worldwide Fruit Limited — Climate Champion of the Year, 2026 FPC Fresh Awards
• Ceremony: 25 September 2026, JW Marriott Grosvenor House, London
• Model Farms: working commercial orchards in the UK and South Africa used as learning sites
• Carbon footprinting: 35 sites across 25 suppliers covered during 2025 via the CCC platform
• Other nominations: Net Zero Impact, Sustainability Excellence (Ethical and Supply Chain), Best Marketing Campaign

The award underlines how practical, farm-level climate action is gaining recognition across the food industry. For more climate coverage, visit the Watan News climate section.