Sustainability Standards Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 1
Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards Our customers care about where the products they buy come from and they put their trust in us to do the right thing on their behalf. This is why Sourcing with integrity is key to our work with farmers, growers and suppliers in the UK and around the world. It is for this reason that we have committed to source all of our key products and ingredients sustainably to an independent standard. Our commitment will help us continue to meet our customers expectations while providing quality products now and well into the future. Our 2020 commitment We ll source our key raw materials sustainably to an independent standard. Overview We have developed a set of Sustainability Standards, co-authored with leading advisors SAI Global and peer reviewed by over 100 independent experts. They build on Sainsbury s own substantial experience in providing direct support to farmers and growers both in the UK and internationally, as well as the work that has been done through industry standards that have been in use for many years. Our Standards address hotspot issues related to economic, social and environmental issues relevant to the value chains that operate in raw material production. Similar to existing certification or assurance standards, our Sustainability Standards will be independently audited. Additionally, they will help their users to identify their particular strengths and weaknesses via robust system of data collection, covering the full range of social, environmental and economic metrics. Sustainability is a journey of continual improvement and our Sustainability Standards programme have been developed with this central to its principles. Our approach We have developed an Overarching Standard designed primarily for our direct suppliers and processors. Alongside this, we ve also developed 35 Key Raw Material Standards, focusing on our agricultural value chains. Our Key Raw Materials are those that are most important to our business and have been identified through a detailed materiality analysis. They cover 35 crops and ingredients ranging from beef and lamb to palm oil and tea. To support our suppliers, farmers and growers to identify, measure and address the sustainability challenges they face, we have developed a performance assessment tool for each key raw material. Suppliers and farmers are supported to complete their self-assessment using their own data, with their anonymity protected, while benchmarking supports the ability to learn from each other, sharing best practice. Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 2
Developing our Standards Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards address the full breadth of environmental, economic and social challenges that impact our farmers and growers. To ensure maximum benefit and no duplicated effort for our suppliers, farmers and growers, we have extensively benchmarked over 70 standards into our programme. Our new Sustainability Standards recognise and give credit for existing assurance and certification standards in use throughout our value chains. Independent peer review process Once we have completed a draft Standard with our expert authors, we then look to independent experts from industry, NGOs, standard holders and members of our value chain to peer review the Standard. This process ensures we have the correct principles and criteria for the key raw material to make the standard as effective as possible. We have had over 100 separate peer reviews completed by over 80 separate organisations, from NGOs to industry and subject matter experts, suppliers, farmers and growers, standards owners and academic institutions. The outcomes of these reviews have added valuable insights, content and driven the further development to the entire suite of our Standards Programme. All peer reviewer responses are reviewed and agreed by an internal steering group committee of senior leaders from Sainsbury s. The self-assessment tool builds on the criteria within the core standard to provide guidance and a deeper understanding of the principles and criteria in the assessment tool. Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 3
Piloting our Standards within our value chains Once the Standard is agreed, we pilot it with our farmers and growers to get feedback, test, refine and roll out our Sustainability Standards to ensure they are as effective as possible for our farmers and growers. Our pilot process involves going out to our farmers and growers and providing training and support on using standards and self-assessment tools. In doing so, we work with groups of our farmers and growers to assess their production and design strategic action plans for implementation at farmer or producer group level. Anonymising data allows us to create benchmarking information that enables farmers to learn from each other and supports the sharing of best practice. They also get access to the latest expert information and trends on their particular crops and circumstances, relevant at the individual farm level. Sustainability performance assement (SPA) feedback Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 4
Planning for the Pilots A vital element of our Standards programme is piloting each standard incrementally across our 35 key raw materials (KRM). This allows us to ensure the Standards are as effective for our value chain as possible. A robust approach to governance The Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards programme follows our strict governance process to ensure it is as effective as possible. We have a Sustainability Steering Group that reviews the Standards every three years and is made up of: Director of Sainsbury s Brand (Project sponsor) Head of Sustainable and Ethical Sourcing (Project lead) Head of Product Quality, Safety & Supplier Performance Head of Agriculture & Sourcing Crop & Organics Manager Category Technical Managers, Sainsbury s Brand Project management is provided by the Sustainable and Ethical Sourcing Team. Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 5
Sustainability Standards build on our existing codes and policies Our suppliers have to meet our stringent Codes of Practice for Ethical Trading and Technical requirements to supply to us. As long as they are meeting these, we can engage with them on the criteria that we have set out in our Sustainability Standards. Through a process of supported selfassessment, our suppliers will be in a position to identify the issues that are most relevant to them and get support to address the challenges they face. Our Sustainability Standards go above and beyond existing levels of certification or assurance and together with guidance and support, assist our farmers and growers on the journey of continuous improvement in their businesses. The performance assessment tool contains an assurance module which helps to assess results against the core Sustainability Standards. Data collected through the performance assessment tool will also inform farmers and growers of their benchmark against their peer group and they will receive specific guidance on individual issues through the Sainsbury s Sustainability standard. Based on all of this data, we will work with farmers and specialist advisers to draw up strategic action plans for implementation at the farm or producer group level. We recognise that many farmers will need help to bring these to fruition and we envisage setting up appropriate support programmes. Over time, we will revisit and review progress against our farmers and growers action plans to further support their continual improvement. Independent audit As we have many more touch points with our suppliers than a conventional audit process, we are able to monitor progress closely and ensure confidence in the approach. NSF International, one of the big five food and sustainability audit bodies, will lead the independent audit programme which includes working with suppliers to check accuracy of results, reliability of the process and the effectiveness of our ongoing support. The basis of validation Audit scope and purpose Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 6
Our progress so far We ve been developing the programme since 2011 and it has been an iterative process from drafting the standards for peer review to an overall pilot programme. Sustainability Standards developed The following Standards have been developed, peer reviewed and awaiting pilot programme to commence. Sustainability Standards pilots We have pilots underway with: - Prawn farmers in Thailand and Belize - Tea producers in Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and India - Sugar Cane farmers in Belize - Wheat farmers in the UK - Floral growers in South Africa, UK and Kenya We will publish our Sustainability Standards on our website as they move into the pilot phase. Sainsbury s Sustainability Standards 7