The Barry Callebaut Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, has announced its engagement in three key industry initiatives strengthening its engagement in the development of sustainable global supply chains and agriculture.
“Becoming a member of SAI Platform and AIM PROGRESS is an important step for us in working towards sustainability in our supply chains, particularly in sugar and dairy products”, commented Massimo Selmo, Head of Global Sourcing at the Barry Callebaut Group. “We have also reinforced our sourcing team to foster this work.”
The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform brings together over 75 international companies in the food and drink sector. In order to mainstream sustainability in agriculture, the platform develops recommendations and tools as well as disseminates knowledge across the food value chain on a pre-competitive basis.
Barry Callebaut will engage in the SAI Platform’s sugar project, its dairy working group and the farm sustainability assessment IT work stream. Peter-Erik Ywema, General Manager of the SAI Platform, says: “We are delighted to welcome Barry Callebaut as an active member of the SAI Platform. We look forward to the Group’s involvement to jointly advance sustainable agriculture.”
At the same time, Barry Callebaut became a member of AIM PROGRESS, a forum of leading FMCG manufacturers, assembled to enable and promote responsible sourcing practices and sustainable supply chains. Barry Callebaut has committed to participate in the environmental working group of AIM PROGRESS.
David Lawrence, Executive Director of AIM PROGRESS said: “We are pleased that Barry Callebaut is now part of our work to promote responsible sourcing practices and sustainable supply chains through closer collaboration and exchange of knowledge and experiences.”
In addition, the Barry Callebaut Group is joining the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP), which aims to build comparability and transparency between existing social and environmental compliance systems through the exchange of knowledge and best practices.
Barry Callebaut has a long history of working with suppliers of cocoa, and has already committed to sourcing RSPO palm oil. Joining the SAI Platform, AIM PROGRESS and GSCP will allow the company to take its engagement in sustainability to the next level.
