Sustainability

Questions and answers

What is Associated British Foods position on the issue of rainforest deforestation for palm oil production?

Globally, Associated British Foods (ABF) and its subsidiaries use a very small quantity of palm oil, accounting for approximately 0.06% of the total annual supply, which is understood to be 45million tonnes. Some ABF businesses currently operate sustainable palm oil policies and are already purchasing Certified Sustainable Palm Oil and ‘Green Palm’ certificates. As a responsible corporate citizen, our aim is to ensure that all ABF businesses use only Certified Sustainable Palm Oil by 2015, provided that supply is available. It is also our intention to expand existing ABF representation at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil with a view to promoting an increased supply of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil, together with the necessary processing facilities, by 2015.

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You are the leading purchaser of agricultural produce in the UK. Does your company assess the environmental practices of your suppliers?

Yes, where the member company purchasing the crop has a direct contractual relationship with the grower. At British Sugar for example, where the company contracts with around 5000 UK sugar beet growers, the contract itself stipulates standards. These standards are monitored by the company's field staff through its Food Safety Audit and Crop Data Collection programmes.

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Does your company have a formal programme of encouraging suppliers to move towards more sustainable forms of agriculture (e.g. through integrated crop management)?

Again in the case of British Sugar, as above the company's 40 area managers (field staff) advise growers on best practice. The company's crop profitability initiative is a computer based programme to encourage growers to minimise inputs (e.g. herbicide/pesticides etc) and economically optimise their yields.

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Does your company market ranges of organic products?

Yes, our group markets a wide range of organic products including, bread, flour, sugar, and tea. Our animal feed division also markets organic feeds produced at a mill certified and inspected by the Soil Association. This is a very small fraction of overall group turnover, but it is a growing market.

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Does your company actively source locally produced ingredients?

Yes, where this is appropriate to the product group. In the case of our sugar operations in England, Poland and China, raw materials are purchased from as close to the processing factory as is possible. With regard to cereals purchase, ABF has actively worked to reduce dependence on imported varieties of wheat for bread making, through advice to growers on variety selection. It purchases around 15% of the UK crop.

In the case of some foods however local purchase is impossible such as tea and rice.

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