Frederic Lebourg Of Fresh Press Farms: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change & Become More Sustainable
An Interview With Martita Mestey
You thought it would be hard? It’s harder!
As a part of our series about how companies are becoming more sustainable, we had the pleasure of interviewing Frederic Lebourg, CEO of Fresh Press Farms.
Since 2020, Frederic has led a unique project located in South Georgia where over 3 million olive trees were planted and a state-of-the-art oil mill was built, along with the creation Fresh Press Farms which aims to disrupt the supermarket shelf with innovative and unique but above all, healthy food products.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thank you for having me! I have always been passionate about food! My culinary journey began at the age of 14 when I earned my first paycheck working in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, where I grew up. Although I initially pursued a career in accounting and finance, a fortunate turn of events led to my appointment as the CFO of a food manufacturing company at 28 years old. When the company’s ownership decided to replace the CEO, I stepped into the role at the age of 29 and have remained dedicated to food manufacturing and marketing ever since. Fresh Press Farms provided the perfect opportunity for me to do what I love most: creating and nurturing a brand, taking it nationwide, all while being guided by a single principle: offering the marketplace a better-for-you food that disrupts its category.
What is the mission of your company? What problems are you aiming to solve?
Fresh Press Farms began as an olive oil company, driven by the fact that 95% of the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) consumed in the USA is imported, and its consumption has grown steadily by 3–5% annually for the past 15 years. This results in a significant carbon footprint, with sea shipping and inland truck transport of imported EVOO estimated to produce 30 million kg and 58 million kg of CO2, respectively.
The European group behind the project owned land in southern Georgia and Florida and believed that olive trees could thrive there. The first plantings occurred in 2016, and by 2020, over 2.4 million trees had been planted. Notably, our grove acts as a carbon sink, absorbing about 1.3 million kg of CO2 annually. Alongside the olive grove, we built a state-of-the-art oil mill. Since olive crushing only occupies about 60 days each year, we expanded into other products, planting and cold-pressing sunflower oil and peanut oil.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
- By carefully monitoring the soil with electronic sensors, we minimize irrigation, making us the most water-efficient olive grove per acre in the USA.
- We mulch all abundant tree clippings, in turn creating a natural fertilizer.
- We maintain grass growth between tree rows, which prevents soil erosion and promotes sustainable agriculture, unlike the scorched earth practices of most groves.
- We use micronutrients through aerosolization and foliage analysis to feed the trees, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach to boost fruit production.
Our packaging is designed to be:
- Infinitely recyclable and PFA and BPA-free. Unlike plastic, Tetra Pak, or PET, aluminum can be endlessly recycled for the same food packaging use.
- Lighter for transport. When shipping oil, trucks typically reach their weight limit before their volume limit. Glass bottles, which are the most common packaging for oil, make up 50% or more of the shipment’s weight. Our aluminum bottles weigh just one-tenth of a glass bottle, allowing us to ship more oil per truck and reduce our carbon footprint.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
Let’s be candid: being sustainable costs more. The only way for a company to be both profitable and sustainable is if consumers recognize the benefits. This requires extensive public education, which is especially challenging in an inflationary period. Fresh Press Farms leverages all available media and social media to raise public awareness about sustainability. For example, when we were featured on the TODAY Show’s Earth Day segment, consumer response was immediate, and our Amazon sales doubled!
The youth led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on behalf of climate change. This was great, and there is still plenty that needs to be done. In your opinion what are a few things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
Frankly, it probably is the opposite here: kids educate their parents.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- No one is waiting for you or your product.
- You thought it would be hard? It’s harder!
- People make great companies, not money.
- A spreadsheet is not reality.
- Always have a plan B, and C, and D.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I always considered a remarkable French entrepreneur as my mentor. As the saying goes, “we have a lot of teachers, but only a few masters”. Mr. Neuhauser started his career at a retail village bakery in a godforsaken corner of East France and built an empire that was, at a time, the largest European wholesale bakery concern, with over 50 plants worldwide. Besides the obvious, hard work, he taught me how important it is to know every detail of the operation you pilot, and to never be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. I fondly remember long nights spent working side by side to get a production line running smoothly, followed by high-stakes meetings with banks and presentations to potential customers. If you aim to be an entrepreneur, you must excel at it all.
You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Stop consuming overly processed food! The developed world is facing an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and early-onset cancers, yet few question why. Discover the healing potential of natural food and the harmful effects of unhealthy choices. We are overfed but undernourished!
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together!
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
