The Staay Food Group, partners with Vidafresh in the UK, has signed a covenant to source sustainably from Central and South America, Africa and Asia by 2020.
A number of major Dutch supermarkets, suppliers, and NGOs have subscribed to the deal, which is coordinated by the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), underlining their commitment to having 30 per cent of their volume sourced sustainably by 2014.
That figure is set to rise to 50 per cent in 2015, and then to 100 per cent volume sourced sustainably in 2020.
Partners in the agreement include: supermarket groups SuperUnie, Ahold, C1000, Jumbo and Lidl; suppliers The Greenery, Eosta, FairFields, Jaguar, Nature’s Pride, Van Oers United, AgroFair and Staay Food Group; NGOs Solidaridad and ICCO; and trade associations Productschap Tuinbouw and Frugi Venta.
Joost Oorthuizen, chief executive of IDH, said: 'What makes this covenant special is that it's an agreement with the entire sector, representing more than 90 per cent of retail. Large and smaller partiesfrom the sector are going to work on sustainability together.'
IDHis now discussing with the covenant partners how the joint projects should be set up. Aims of the projects include improving working conditions of seasonal workers and stimulating sustainable water use.
The group is primed to start its first projects in South Africa and Colombia.
Below: interview with Joost Oorthuizen, sustainable trade director at IDH
