Protected Harvest

The Earth is Our Bottom Line

Protected Harvest is a standards setting and third-party certifier of sustainably-grown food products.
Buyers of Protected Harvest-certified products can be assured that claims of environmental and social sustainability performance are specific, measureable, and verifiable.
Protected Harvest growers are assessed and audited on water, air, and soil quality, wildlife protection and social impacts on workers and the community.

For Farmers, certification by Protected Harvest validates your efforts to protect the environment and distinguishes your product in the marketplace.

Buyers of Protected Harvest-certified products can be assured that claims of environmental and social sustainability performance are specific, measureable and verifiable.

For Consumers, the Protected Harvest eco-label gives you confidence that the environmental and social claims are real, audited and verified by third-party.

Certified Sustainable The Earth is Our Bottom Line
For Farmers Validate your efforts to protect the environment.
For Buyers Get Assurance
For Consumers We give you confidence

Certified Sustainable.

Protected Harvest is organized as an independent nonprofit organization governed by a Sustainability Council of leading environmental NGOs, scientists, and practitioners that approve sustainability standards. Accredited certification firms conduct annual audits and issue certification. Daily operations of Protected Harvest are managed by SureHarvest.

View this 3-minute video.

Hy-Vee Citrus Display Contest to feature Certified Sustainable Zeal Brand

Hy-Vee selected Zeal branded Navels, certified by Protected Harvest, for its annual citrus sale contest among store produce managers.

“For the first time, we are using the contest as an opportunity to showcase our commitment to sustainable agriculture, by offering our customers a quality product grown under strict environmental and social standards,” stated Ron Coles, Assistant Vice President of Produce Purchasing for Hy-Vee.

“Hy-Vee is a loyal partner who shares our values. So many customers have asked about sustainability, but Hy-Vee is walking the talk by supplying their customers with high quality fruit grown with care for the environment,” said Doug Sankey, Marketing Manager for SunWest. “It is more than a buy-sell relationship.”

>> Read the press release
>> Read the Citrus Standards