Swedish Food Chain Commits to 100% Responsible Soy by 2015

24 Apr 2014 --- Companies in the Swedish Soy Dialogue have agreed to a goal of 100% responsible soy by 2015, which will start this year with 60% responsibly sourced soy products.

This commitment means that the 27 Swedish food companies and organizations that have signed the voluntary agreement will aim to ensure that the soy used for the production of foodstuffs sold in Sweden is socially and environmentally responsible. Therefore, they will seek for RTRS Responsible Soy, both as physical flow and RTRS Credits.

“We welcome this as an important first step in reducing the negative impact on nature, animals and humans in which soy is produced. Our hope is that other companies may follow suit and impose requirements on how soy is produced”, says Peter Westman, Conservation Director at WWF.

By only using responsibly sourced soy, these companies aim to help prevent the loss of biodiversity, the irresponsible use of toxic pesticides, and exploitation of land belonging to local communities, as well as contributing to safe and good working conditions for soybean plantations. This will specially ensure that the soy used has been grown without the exploitation of unique natural areas, Atlantic rainforest, the Cerrado, Chaco and Amazon.

This wide, voluntary network includes trade associations, feed industry, food manufacturers and retail chains.