Economics: Entrepreneurs: A fascinating Corporate Sustainability Program
Fairfood Blog
Solution of the month V: Innocent Drinks
1. Which standards and certifications are out there? Which are the best ones?
2. What issues do they cover? And which issues do we want to focus on most?
Based on a review of the existing schemes, Innocent developed its own Minimum Standards for Sustainability. These standards cover issues ranging from child labour to minimum wages, biodiversity and so on. In addition, the company looks at each type of fruit and farm separately to determine which issues need to be covered and essentially customizes its set of standards to address them. For example, after studying the banana sector, Innocent decided that all its bananas should be Rainforest Alliance certified. As bananas are the major component of Innocent’s smoothies –totaling 12.000 tons per year - this amounts to quite a lot of Rainforest Alliance certified bananas!
Another interesting aspect of Innocent’s sustainability programme is the element of trust that runs through its supply chain. Jessica explained that it’s impossible to go to 800 separate raspberry farms and check whether they comply with the standards, let alone go to all suppliers of all fruits. In other words, not all farms are externally verified. Farms that Innocent ‘trusts’ based on, for example, former visits can engage in self-assessments. However, other farms which are not fully trusted are regularly checked.
Sustainable ProjectsAccording to Jessica, being successful also means giving something back to society. As a result, Innocent invests in several sustainable agriculture projects which help farmers improve their farming practices. Moreover, Innocent gives 10% of its profits to charity each year. The majority goes to the Innocent Foundation, which supports NGOs in helping underprivileged communities to develop sustainable food production for local consumption.
At the end of the presentation, an audience member wanted to know whether the recent purchase of 53% of Innocent’s shares by Coca Cola has affected Innocent’s sustainability programme. In response to this concern, Jessica assured us that nothing has changed in the way Innocent works. Furthermore, she stated that Coca Cola has been very supportive and even approached them for advice on their own sustainability programme. Nevertheless, she acknowledged that it’s impossible to state that ‘nothing will ever change’.
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