Keter CEO Alejandro Pena Donated the Firm’s Outdoor Furniture to a Garden 

Alejandro Pena, Keter CEO, participated in Keter’s Green Spaces sustainability initiative.

In May 2022, as the sun beat down on North Miami, Florida, dozens of people in white aprons finished digging in the first garden for the Keter Green Spaces sustainability initiative. Keter, a global outdoor furniture and garden product maker, partnered with Miami’s Education Fund to create a large vegetable garden — what the group calls a “Food Forest” — at North Miami Elementary School. 

The company made a monetary donation for future gardens and brought volunteers. It also delivered 25 items for the enterprise, including raised garden beds, storage sheds, all-weather furniture, and deck boxes. The freshman effort by the Keter Green Spaces initiative happened on Alejandro Pena’s watch. As the CEO of Keter, he and the team are enthusiastically expanding the sustainability piece of the purpose-driven brand.

CEO Alejandro Pena, alongside Keter’s employees, is keen to turn communities greener through connection and education, the goal of Keter Green Spaces. The venture strives to develop messages that emphasize sustainability, provide an act of service, and donate products and funds for a longer-term impact. When planning the garden event, Keter chose North Miami Elementary because it was in a community in need. The initiative will continue to deliver sustainability undertakings to similar neighborhoods. 

Now that the initiative has finished refurbishing the school’s garden, more events are in the pipeline. 

The purpose-driven business trend — some might call it a movement — continues to infiltrate the corporate space. Savvy business leaders like Pena have been paying attention as environmental, social, and governance programs and investments have become a mainstay. Keter was adhering to ESG-style principles before they even had a name.

Many reasons have contributed to companies’ increased interest in sustainability actions. Since the Paris Agreement rolled out its objectives, there’s been a sharp growth in investors’ use of environmental, social, and governance approaches. Investors want to integrate climate risks and opportunities into their decisions about investing in companies. 

Keter CEO Alejandro Pena Lists the Three-Pillar Mission Statement

The Keter Green Spaces initiative dovetails with three pillars that Alejandro Pena, Keter CEO, established as the company’s mission statement: better products, better planet, better business. He believes that Keter employees worldwide will embrace the mission statement. 

According to technology consultant Accenture, more than two-thirds of American consumers want companies to stand up for the issues they are passionate about — which means Keter is on the right path in minimizing its use of virgin resources and eliminating waste. 

Pena says the company designs its products to be 100% recyclable. Keter is also on an ambitious trajectory to increase the use of recycled content in its products from 40% in 2020 to 55% in 2025. 

More: Keter plans to reduce 25% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. And the company reduces its carbon footprint through operational efficiencies and environmentally positive actions. Keter proactively contributes toward sustainable living through prudent water management and aggressive waste elimination.

Another “green” trait of Keter’s products is durability; they’re made to last a lifetime. As the company tells customers through its content, “We don’t believe in single-use products.”

The long life span means Keter’s products are not “fast furniture” — inexpensive, short-lived designs that end up in landfills. Throwaway goods add up: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans send more than 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings to landfills every year.

Keter CFO Pasquale Iannone Loves Natural Beauty — and Good EBDA

Pasquale Iannone, Keter’s chief financial officer, isn’t always concerned with issues like earnings before depreciation and amortization. Sometimes he can be found plowing through steep ocean waves in a sailboat, water splashing against the hull. The natural beauty of sailing is astounding, which is one reason Iannone enjoys it. 

Iannone has worked at Keter since 2015. As CFO, he’s glad he recently helped it gain peak liquidity “as a warranty” against market dips and swerves. 

As the company progresses, CEO Alejandro Pena will work with Iannone to deliver innovative and durable lifestyle solutions for outdoor spaces and keep the profits coming. Since sustainability has been a part of Keter’s company culture since its inception, it will be fascinating to see the goals it achieves.

As the global manufacturing environment tiptoes toward a deeper shade of green, Alejandro Pena sees Keter as the industry leader that will influence similar companies to do the same.