Sobeys’ sustainability journey started with a focus on our direct operations and those activities or factors over which we have direct control. As the infrastructure to achieve our sustainability goals has been established and many of the highest-impact initiatives launched, we have expanded our focus to include our supply chain. It is important to recognize that our supply chain is responsible for 80% to 90% of the cumulative environmental footprint made by bringing a product to our shelves. For this reason, we are implementing initiatives related to sourcing, packaging and seafood to improve the sustainability in our supply chains.
Sustainable sourcing
Sustainable sourcing
Sobeys sources products locally, nationally and globally. We are committed to continually evolving our processes and procedures and to working collaboratively with local governments, industries, non-governmental organizations and factories to ensure conditions that impact factory workers and the environment are in compliance with local laws, Sobeys’ Code of Business Conduct & Ethics as well as the various programs and initiatives to which Sobeys is a signatory.
At a global industry level, Sobeys is a signatory of the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) through our membership in the Global Consumer Goods Forum. Through GSCP, retailers and brand manufacturers in many sectors, including food, textiles, electronics, toys, furniture and footwear, are working together to create a harmonized, global and sustainable approach to improving working conditions and environmental practices in the global supply chain.
The GSCP approach includes shared codes of conduct and monitoring systems designed to deliver real benefits, including fundamental labour rights, to workers around the world, particularly in sensitive countries. It also offers a global platform for exchanging knowledge and best practices. Sobeys continues to play a role in the development of GSCP principles and plans to use those principles in our global procurement practices. The GSCP resources to implement labour and environmental guidelines will be ready for us to begin working with our auditing companies early in 2010.
In April 2009, Eastern Sign-Print, a printing company that is a subsidiary of Sobeys Inc., received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification. The certification provides customers that request FSC-certified product with the assurance that the products they purchase are sourced from managed forests or from verified recycled sources. The certification also permits Eastern Sign-Print to make claims relating to their use of FSC-certified products.
