Sep 2 2011 --- As the fifth company in the world, this week Lantmännen purchased its first certificate for soy in accordance with the RTRS (Round Table on Responsible Soy). During the summer Lantmännen's environmental and sustainability manager visited Brazil to see how the certified soy is cultivated onsite.

"We have now taken an important step in Lantmännen's soy strategy towards a more sustainable production of soy," says Claes Johansson, environmental and sustainability manager at Lantmännen. We are one of the first five global players to implement purchases of the RTRS certified soy. 

"The collaboration within the RTRS is currently in a very important and sensitive phase, as the very first RTRS soy is available for purchase in the market. It is absolutely decisive for the survival of the RTRS soy that companies like Lantmännen show that there is a demand for responsibly cultivated soy.  I think the RTRS can be of great motivation for farmers to accelerate progress in a sustainable direction. That both companies and consumers contribute to increased demand is the way to improve and develop global sustainable soy production," says Agustin Mascotena, Executive Director of RTRS.

"We welcome this as a good first step. Now it is crucial to work as quickly as possible to attain 100 per cent RTRS certification of all soy import to Sweden. Furthermore, we must work together towards stricter requirements for pesticides. We do want to see more players who make commitments for responsibly produced soy," says Lena Tham, responsible for the soy issue at WWF Sweden.

During the summer Claes Johansson travelled to Brazil on behalf of Lantmännen and visited farms which cultivate soy which later arrives in Sweden as protein-rich feed for our cows, pigs and chicken.  Among other things, he visited one of the first global farms to have succeeded in an RTRS certification.

"I think that the farms are managed very professionally with a consistently high standard, also in terms of the work environment and protective equipment for workers. There have been several discussion on workers being injured in connection with the handling of pesticides. The first version of the RTRS standard has unfortunately failed to regulate all compounds which are prohibited in Europe, but according to the RTRS standard the requirements for protective equipment and training are so strict that the risks of injury are minimized," concludes Claes.

The first purchase with the RTRS certificate covers 30, 000 tonnes of soy, which currently equates to approximately 18 per cent of Lantmännen's total soy volume. Lantmännen has worked together with one of its suppliers Denofa and their sub-supplier Amaggi to enable this important step which impacts the continued development of soy production. The objective is to increase the volume as both consumer demand and supply of certified soy increases.