Our Supply Chain

We aim to live our triple bottom line in all aspects of our business.

Social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and financial viability are especially important when it comes to sourcing the quality ingredients that make up our delightfully nourishing foods.

Having already established a thorough auditing and third-party verification system for organic, gluten free, and non-GMO certification, we’re now turning the same passion and attention towards ethical labor practices within our supply chain.

While we don’t yet have an independent, unannounced, third party auditor, we do have a vendor approval process and have already taken steps towards verification in relation to the risks of human trafficking and slavery in our ingredient supply chain. As a member of the Food Trade Leadership Sustainability Association (FTSLA), we have signed a “Declaration of Sustainability” under which we report our efforts in 11 areas, including labor. Through the FTSLA, we are committed to the following:
  

Labor—We acknowledge that those communities which protect and work the land are particularly vulnerable and must be treated fairly. We will strive to ensure that growers and handlers of food products collaborate to guarantee basic labor rights and verifiable improvements in the lives of farm workers and their communities. We will work to ensure that all workers are given the opportunity to give feedback about their needs and wants. We will develop and implement company policies, procedures, training and internal reporting structures to ensure commitment to good labor practices throughout our organization. These labor practices will include ensuring that we compensate our employees to enable them to meet at least their basic needs and provide the opportunity to improve their skill and capability in order to raise their social and economic opportunities, promoting equal opportunity for our employees at all levels of the company, and provide a safe and healthy workplace.

As an organic food company, we enjoy a close working relationship with our suppliers as we take a keen interest in their agricultural and material procurement processes. In 2011 we began to look into the human resource practices of our suppliers by way of a survey. From the initial results of this survey, we know that many of our suppliers already take these matters into consideration and have programs in place such as Fair Trade certification, EcoSocial Certification and internally developed verification and tracking programs.

As we review this data, which will be completed in February 2012, we will determine what steps we need to take to make sure we, and you, are completely comfortable with the labor practices of those who touch our products at every step along the path. To help mitigate risks in this area, we are also planning on introducing a training program and internal accountability standards for our supply chain team here at Nature’s Path.

We will continue to report on our progress here for you, but please feel free to drop us a line any time if you have questions.