Sustainability in the supply chain Alexandra Wester, Pet Customer Technical Adviser at Trouw Nutrition GB, explains how they view sustainability. We live in an information age where pet parents have access to media that liberally supplies information and opinion about brands, pet foods and ingredients. Novel ingredients such as insect protein enter the market, partly driven by novelty, but mostly by sustainability. A growing awareness of the pressure we put on our planet’s resources increases the consumers’ interest in feeding their pet a sustainable, ethical and traceable food. As a supplier in the pet food industry it is our task to manufacture nutritionally sound and legally compliant materials, but also answer to customer demands. As part of Nutreco, Trouw Nutrition’s mission is to ‘Feed the future’ – feed our growing population in a sustainable way for generations to come.
Responsible sourcing Being SEDEX certified shows part of our commitment to continuous improvement of the ethical performance in our supply chain. We source our raw materials from suppliers who share our commitment to sustainability through the adoption of our Supplier Code of Conduct. As a minimum, suppliers must be compliant with relevant environmental laws and regulations, but are strongly encouraged to go further. Our suppliers must use environmental resources in an efficient and sustainable way and strive to minimise their impact on biodiversity, climate change and water scarcity. Alongside the environmental considerations, our raw materials must supply also considers the people sourcing it. Employees must at least receive their human rights and include equal opportunities, health and safety standards and working times in line with the country’s legislation. This way we ensure our blends are free from slavery, child-labour and mental and physical coercion.
Traceability Following the horsemeat scandal of five years ago and kangaroo burgers containing 100% beef in September of this year, traceability continues
to be high on the agenda of pet parents. We implement a bidirectional audit trail for our pet premixes, covering the materials coming in and the premixes going out. You can rely on us to govern that chain for you. Each of our raw materials and suppliers are separately risk assessed before we assign an audit and testing programme. This allows us to identify and minimise sustainability issues throughout our supply chain and guarantee material quality.
Sustainable partnerships We actively involve employees and stakeholders in our mission to feed the future. We welcome open dialogue with our suppliers and raise the standard within the industry by working towards a culture of continuous improvement. Locally, we have control programmes in place to protect the surrounding environment and are COMAH accredited. In consultation with customer we actively seek to concentrate pet premixes as part of a project to reduce volume and transport. On site employees are encouraged to recycle, reuse glass milk bottles and cycle to work.
Nuterra® programme Raw material sourcing forms and sustainable partnerships form part of the pillars of our Nuterra® programme, which are aligned with the international goals of the United Nations. We take pride in driving a more sustainable industry and in fact, our mother company Nutreco was named one of ten finalists for the UK Sustainability Leaders Awards 2019. So you know that our supply of superfoods, plant-based proteins and feed additives raises the sustainability standard in the industry. That way, we can fulfil our mission of feeding the future. Nutreco.com/en/our-way/sustainability/
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Pet Food Supplement 2020
