Our why
At Collectiv Food, we believe that not only does everyone have a right to know where and how their food was produced, but also that this knowledge is crucial in driving forward a clear and honest dialogue within the food supply chain. By sharing accurate information about the food producers we work with, we're providing you with the insights you need to turn your sustainability ambitions into reality.
How it works
A Producer Story gives you the power to see verified claims about our food and drink producers on everything from management of greenhouse gas emissions and water use to product safety. Using Responsibly's methodology geared at companies looking for insight into their supply chain across the entire value chain, we answer three questions to understand how far along producers are in their sustainability journey:
How are our producers performing against Collectiv Food's minimum supply standards as laid out in our Code of Conduct and Sourcing Policy?
What are the most relevant material issues affecting our producers?
How are our producers performing against these issues?
Looking for a supplier who is as sustainable as they claim? Simply log on to the Collectiv Food app, where you can review the real stories and sustainability efforts of your current producers and explore others within our vetted network too.
Transparent data sources
At Collectiv Food, transparency runs through everything we do and the data we source is no exception. That's why we work with Responsibly to show you scores based on evidence, while working with suppliers for the additional information we need to cover all bases.
Our ratings are comprehensive-considering impacts throughout the entire supply chain from raw materials to workplace conditions and product's end of use. Altogether, we evaluate >1000 data points across key material issues to understand how far producers are in their sustainability journeys. We gather the data via a questionnaire while publicly available data is gathered by Responsibly, aligned with the questionnaire's focus areas aimed at assessing adherence to our Sourcing Policy and Code of Conduct. We also go further by assessing action taken on material risks specific to supplier operations. Beyond identifying actions across impact areas, we assess their robustness, with third-party certifications or verifications often earning the highest scores. This ensures we can distinguish between loose commitments and verified progress.
Key issues we score on
The food supply chain involves sustainability issues which are many and inherently complex. To keep things simple, we grouped together Collectiv Food's standard impact parameters applicable to all food and drink suppliers and a second group incorporating additional impact assessment areas aimed at accounting for the diversity of our supply base.
Our standard impact assessments
At Collectiv Food, we strive to maintain exceptional standards as we work towards a fair, transparent and sustainable food supply chain. Our supplier sustainability assessments are a key component of how we ensure transparency in our supply chain and promote continuous improvements in the pursuit of a more resilient, and sustainable food supply chain. The assessments hold suppliers accountable against our minimum trade standards and beyond. This approach underscores our commitment to customer health, environmental responsibility, and the adoption of sustainable practices within the food industry.
1. Product safety
At Collectiv Food, customer health is our top priority. We assess alignment with third party product safety standards in our sustainability evaluations to support responsible sourcing and mitigate risks. Partnering with suppliers adhering to recognised food safety standards ensures that you enjoy safe and high-quality food and drink, while fostering sustainable industry practices.
2. Quality assurance
Quality assurance is key to consistent, high-quality food and drink products. This assessment area focuses on suppliers' operations to prevent defects and maintain top-notch standards. By encouraging suppliers to adopt such processes, they also support reduced resource consumption, and waste.
3. Supply chain traceability
At Collectiv Food, we believe that traceability empowers transparency. We prioritise supply chain traceability to ensure responsible ingredient sourcing, fostering trust and accountability from end to end of the supply chain.
4. Corruption
Safeguarding human rights and preventing corruption are fundamental to building a sustainable and ethical food supply chain. These issues are critical not only for meeting our investor disclosure requirements but also as part of global best practices to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability. By understanding your practices in these areas, we can work together to strengthen integrity and trust across our supply chain in line with our Code of Conduct.
5. Workplace health & safety
At Collectiv Food, we evaluate suppliers' workplace health and safety standards to uphold the well-being of workers and ensure responsible operations. Robust safety measures, comprehensive training, and well-implemented protocols reflect strong leadership and reinforce a supply chain built on valuing people at its core.
6 & 7. Emissions Scopes 1 & 2
Assessing our suppliers' emissions management is an essential part of our own Net Zero commitment. We currently evaluate how suppliers manage direct emissions from owned sources (Scope 1) and indirect emissions associated with the consumption of purchased energy (Scope 2). These emission scopes are directly within a company's operational control, making them more straightforward to measure and manage than Scope 3 emissions. By starting here, we aim to support a fair and manageable starting point for our suppliers' journeys in reducing their emissions.
Accounting for diversity
While our standard impact assessments provide a robust framework to gauge how suppliers align with our commitments and mission, we acknowledge the diversity of environmental and social impact issues most relevant for our suppliers and the contexts in which they operate. That's why, beyond the impact areas covered by our standard assessments, our supplier evaluations also incorporate specific impact parameters identified by our partner, Responsibly, as high and medium risks based on industry- and country-specific research as well as globally agreed sustainability frameworks. Details of these additional assessment areas and scores are available on request.
The rating scale
Each Producer Story indicates how far along a given producer is in their sustainability journey. Each indication is based on the overall score of a producer assessed by Responsibly on Collectiv Food's behalf. Responsibly's methodology involves a -3 to 3 scoring system, where a higher overall score is awarded to producers who are further along in their sustainability journey, measured by having not only improved their impact, but also independently assessed or audited their social and environmental impact. Producers' scores across assessment areas are averaged to calculate a producer's overall score.
