Standards for corporate social responsibility in the food supply chain could soon be added to existing models for audits and certification to prevent the issue becoming a “mine field” for the industry, the GlobalGAP conference heard last week.
Alfons Schmid, vice-president for food safety and consumer affairs at Royal Ahold, an international group of local food retail operators that trade under their own brand names, predicted that social standards will eventually sit alongside food safety audits.
He said: “With the rise of the economies in Thailand, China, India and other South East Asian regions, as well as Latin America, the subject of social standards is getting more and more NGO attention. Child labour, worker protection, non discrimination, maximum working hours, equal payment, minimum wages make up a mine field full of aspects which make buying in many parts of the world a business that can explode right in your face.
“It is my conviction that there is definitely a role to play for Global GAP to seek alliances with standard owners who provide reliable auditing schemes for social requirements.”
Schmid chairs a GlobalGAP working group that is looking to combine safety and environmental certification with a social risk assessment, without pushing up expenses for growers and suppliers.
“We are facing heavy competition in all markets where we operate, and need to be very price competitive,” he said. “But nowadays that is not enough. Consumers all over the world expect us to deliver absolutely safe, quality food, which has been produced in a sustainable manner, with adequate product information.”
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