“With a growing world population and rising prosperity, demand for food is set to increase further, resulting in increased pressure on resources such as commodities, water and nature”, says Ruud Tijssens, Agrifirm's Director of Corporate Affairs. Agrifirm intends to accept its responsibility by making sustainable choices in a transparent way on raw materials, suppliers and crop growing regions. “This way, we provide a sustainable contribution to feeding the growing world population.”

Regional risks analyses

In addition to existing initiatives for sustainable soy and palm oil, Agrifirm will also adopt a stricter procurement policy for the main livestock feed materials in the Netherlands: corn, wheat, rapeseed meal. “Based on previous desk top analyses by consultants and talks with our suppliers, we knew which regions had social, environmental and/or governance issues. Over the past year, we asked a certifying body for input of their auditing knowledge in the regional analyses. This gave us a clearer impression of the priorities that we should specifically apply to the various countries of origin.”

Together with an independent certifying body, the issues at work in production areas were charted in order to implement, where necessary, feasible and high-impact measures in collaboration with the suppliers. “For three new main feed materials (sunflower kernel meal, barley and beet pulp), the same cycle will be started by charting potential issues in the countries of origin. In the coming years, we will expand this method to our foreign sites.”

Partnerships

The progress in sustainable procurement was discussed with Dutch social organisations and chain partners. “This focused on the regional analyses. The findings and in particular the possible scenarios for Agrifirm to effect positive changes were extensively discussed. Agrifirm will continue the dialogue with these partners on achieving the objectives over the years ahead.”

Click here for the stricter version of Agrifirm's sustainable procurement policy.