Streamlining sustainability: Barry Callebaut and Unilever pilot platform to assess supply chain performance

20 Jun 2019 --- Barry Callebaut and Unilever are the first companies to utilize a harmonized approach to streamline sustainability assessments. By piloting the Field to Market/Sustainable Agriculture Initiative’s (SAI) Equivalency Module with US farmers, the two companies can benefit from an evaluation that provides greater efficiency in measuring and assessing the sustainability performance of their supply chains.

With the ability to verify the sustainability performance of their key sourcing regions, the two companies can also identify improvements that will benefit the entire food and agriculture value chain.

Both companies are assisting Field to Market and SAI Platform in testing implementation of the joint Equivalency Module, which allows farmers utilizing “Field to Market’s Fieldprint Platform” to fulfill the requirements of SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) by completing a 15-question module. 

“It is very significant for Barry Callebaut and Unilever to pilot the platform with regards to their ability to advance their sustainable sourcing goals and promote sustainable agricultural practices,” Joe Rushton, FSA Manager, SAI Platform, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

“The Fieldprint calculator and the FSA equivalency module are completed at farm level, the results or gaps will guide improvement. If companies want, they can verify the results of the equivalency module via third-party auditing for added assurance of the results,” he says.

This streamlined approach between Field to Market and SAI Platform allowed Barry Callebaut to partner with its supply chain to engage participating sugar beet farmers in the company’s Fieldprint Project in Minnesota and North Dakota and achieve FSA Silver level verification.

“These new improvements make it simpler for us to collect sustainability data and assess the performance of sugar we source in the US,” says Kevin Ogorzalek, Sustainable Sourcing Manager at Barry Callebaut.

The benefits of this approach extend beyond sugar supply chains and are also available to the ten additional commodities supported by the Fieldprint Platform. These are barley, corn for grain, corn for silage, cotton, peanuts, potatoes, rice, soybeans, sugar beets and wheat. 

“It’s exciting to see Field to Market and SAI Platform bringing their partnership to life through this solution which streamlines sustainability assessment across global supply chains” adds Stefani Millie Grant, Senior Manager for External Affairs and Sustainability, Unilever.

“By utilizing the Equivalency Module in our North Dakota Wheat Fieldprint Project, Unilever is better able to assess and characterize the sustainability performance of a key ingredient of our Knorr pasta and identify opportunities for continuous improvement through Field to Market’s outcomes-based approach to advancing sustainable agriculture.” 

Barry Callebaut and Unilever’s respective pilots have so far resulted in several improvements that will benefit the entire value chain, including:

• Detailed requirements and background information for farmers and the supply chain on each of the 15 questions used to assess sustainability performance, giving both ends of the supply chain greater clarity and confidence in executing the Equivalency Module;
• Expanded and updated implementation guidance explaining how to get started for several different scenarios of farmer-level engagement, ensuring users feel equipped to take full advantage of the Equivalency Module;
• Streamlined user experience through embedding the questionnaire as an optional module with Field to Market’s Fieldprint Platform.

 By Gaynor Selby