Seasonal fruits and vegetables

ESU-services offers a unique seasonal calendar that details the seasonal environmental impact of fruits and vegetables by month and country of origin. This calendar takes into account different types of cultivation, transportation routes and storage times to provide you with accurate data.

Detailed availability and scenarios

For each month, our seasonal calendar contains information on the availability of products from open-air or greenhouse cultivation, as well as any storage times. Frozen products are also included. There is a detailed line in the input table for each origin or special variants such as organic. This allows the eco-points (according to the ecological scarcity method) and/or the CO2 equivalent values per month to be calculated precisely. To date, more than 100 scenarios have already been developed for various products.

Influencing factors: transportation, cultivation and storage

he differences in environmental impact are mainly due to transportation, greenhouse cultivation, storage and deep-freezing. For example, the environmental footprint of asparagus (see screenshot below) can vary greatly depending on cultivation and transportation conditions. Our data will help you understand these differences and make better decisions. Integrated cultivation (IP) and heated greenhouse (GH) are important factors that are taken into account in our calculations.

Adjustments and regional differences

Our table refers to delivery to Switzerland (Zurich). For German customers, the CH products would correspond to the DE products, as the transportation distances do not make a major difference. However, regional factors may play a role in the assessment of the total environmental impact (UBP). These differences should be interpreted with caution. If specific data is required for scenarios proposed by you, we can take this into account at the same price.

Why you should use our seasonal calendar

The ESU-services seasonal calendar provides you with a valuable tool to analyze the seasonal environmental impact of your products and supports you in making more sustainable decisions. Our detailed and reliable data will help you minimize your environmental footprint and achieve your sustainability goals. Contact us today to find out more about our seasonal calendar and how it can help you reduce your environmental impact!

Additions are possible on behalf of the customer. If possible, we would need information on which origin is realistic at which time of year. Additional (e.g. different origin) or modified variants are also possible, e.g. a product from Poland that is not yet included in the scenarios. The balancing of a new product is based on a cultivation system in a country (e.g. organic, greenhouse, free-range IP, etc.). The balancing of different variants of the cultivation method then counts as several products.