Avnish Malde Wealmoor

Customer expectations for sustainably and ethically-sourced food have never been higher than today. As a fresh produce supplier, we have become increasingly aware of our need to manage our global social and environmental challenges. However with a supply base across five continents and taking into account the many different legal systems, local customs, and often differing retailer requirements, it isn’t always easy.

The way we manage ethical and social goals is to work with our suppliers and customers to achieve theirs and our own expectations. To achieve transparency there are standards that incorporate the principles of the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) and International Labour Organization (ILO), which are absolute minimum requirements. The tools at our disposal for meeting this include Sedex, Smeta, due diligence records and most importantly our own on-the-ground teams who visit the entire supply base using our own risk-based approach considering location, previous performance and our own visit findings. Modern slavery requirements add a further dimension to this. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution though, and we use the most appropriate tool to identify and achieve compliance.

Is it then fair that a grower, just because they are in a country considered as high risk, often judged as such using external geo-political mapping and risk analysis, is penalised even if they demonstrate the highest standards towards their people and environment? We have all seen news items of appalling treatment of workers even in supposedly low-risk countries, so assuming that location can identify the risk level can be counterproductive. To work with low-risk suppliers with high standards regardless of location remains our objective.

One challenge the industry currently faces is different customer expectations. We are all working towards achieving an ethically-sound supply base but sometimes divergent requirements cause problems. For example, if we initiate a Smeta audit at one of our suppliers we must consider the end customer when selecting the auditor. One customer may not accept a Smeta carried out by a different auditing company even when the audit is to exactly the same standard.

Retailer collaboration with suppliers, NGOs and local groups on the ground can be instrumental in achieving transparency. Customers therefore have a huge role to play in formalising their ethical management strategy so that it is compatible and practical.

It’s time to think that maybe a concerted joint strategy from all of the retailers with a clear objective will surely be more prudent if the goal of a consistent ethical and sustainable supply chain is to be achieved. After all, we are all trying to achieve the same result for our consumers – that of a strong and ethically sound supply chain that we can all be proud of.