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Knorr's Commitment to Sustainable Sourcing
At Knorr, we believe that a truly delicious meal starts with sustainably sourced ingredients. Our commitment to sustainable agriculture is deeply rooted in fostering agricultural resilience and ensuring a stable, efficient food supply for everyone. For over 15 years, Unilever, our parent company, has partnered with dedicated suppliers and farmers to cultivate crops responsibly. This journey evolved from the 'Sustainable Agriculture Code' (SAC) to the more comprehensive 'Sustainable Agriculture Principles' (SAP) in 2024. These principles guide the sustainable sourcing of 12 key crops, including Cocoa, Vanilla, Tea, Palm Oil, Dairy, Vegetables & Herbs, and Cereals. We're proud that in 2024, 79% of these key crops were sustainably sourced, and we are actively working towards our ambitious goal of 95% by 2030.
The release of our updated Sustainable Agricultural Principles (SAP) (PDF 4.29 MB) in 2024 marked a significant step forward. These principles form the foundation of our program, enabling us to verify the sustainable nature of our key crops through a variety of widely recognized certification programs and standards.
Understanding Unilever's Sustainable Agriculture Principles (SAP)
Unilever's overarching commitment is to achieve 95% volume of key crops externally verified as sustainably sourced by 2030. This ambitious target will be met by ensuring alignment with the Sustainable Agriculture Principles via accepted third-party standards, reinforcing our dedication to ethical sourcing.
The SAP framework outlines a collection of best practices designed to embed sustainability across farming, plantation, and supply chain management. Unilever leverages these principles to rigorously assess and benchmark third-party agricultural standards, ensuring they align with our commitment to sustainable, responsible, and transparent production. Suppliers partnering with Unilever for sustainably sourced raw materials are now required to adopt and comply with one of these benchmarked and accepted third-party standards.
The SAP is structured around six fundamental Sustainable Agriculture Principles, guiding our suppliers to uphold integrity, protect and regenerate nature, drive climate action, respect human rights, ensure good animal welfare (where applicable), and embrace continuous improvement in agricultural practices. Let's explore these principles in more detail:
- Ensure integrity through legal compliance, transparency, and responsible business practices. This principle emphasizes adherence to legal requirements, ethical conduct, data protection, traceability, and overall transparency in operations.
- Protect and regenerate nature. Focused on maintaining and enhancing soil health, promoting responsible land use (including avoiding deforestation), conserving water resources, minimizing waste, and preventing pollution. This also includes safeguarding and restoring nature and biodiversity.
- Drive climate action and build climate resilience and adaptation. This principle encourages practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency, and strengthen climate resilience and adaptation throughout the supply chain.
- Respect and promote human rights and drive positive social impact. This principle ensures the respect for human rights, improved working conditions, contributions to livelihoods, and a safe, healthy environment, all in line with international standards.
- Ensure good animal welfare and promote the health of livestock. Relevant for suppliers of animal-derived goods, this principle safeguards animal welfare by adhering to standards like the Five Freedoms, focusing on safe housing, healthy feed, animal health, appropriate breeding, and respecting animal freedoms.
- Commit to and support a process of continuous improvement. This foundational principle encourages ongoing enhancements in sustainable agricultural practices, including implementing improvement plans, data measurement, transparent reporting, setting new commitments, and embracing technological innovations.
For comprehensive details on these principles, please refer to our Sustainable Agriculture Principles pages, which outline the required and recommended practices: https://www.unilever.com/files/unilever-sustainable-agricultural-principles-2024.pdf
Key Takeaways for Knorr's Sustainable Sourcing
- Empowering Sustainable Agriculture: Knorr, through Unilever, champions sustainable sourcing to build agricultural resilience and a stable food supply.
- Evolving Principles: Our commitment is guided by the updated Unilever Sustainable Agriculture Principles (SAP), replacing the previous code.
- Ambitious Targets: We aim for 95% of our 12 key crops to be sustainably sourced by 2030, building on 79% achieved in 2024.
- Six Core Pillars: The SAP framework focuses on integrity, nature protection, climate action, human rights, animal welfare, and continuous improvement.
- Ethical Sourcing: These principles ensure responsible, transparent, and ethical sourcing across our global supply chain.
Our Ongoing Journey Towards a Sustainable Future
Knorr's dedication to sustainable sourcing, powered by Unilever's robust Sustainable Agriculture Principles, reflects our unwavering commitment to a healthier planet and a more resilient food system. By working closely with farmers and suppliers, we are not just sourcing ingredients; we are cultivating a future where delicious food is synonymous with environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Join us in celebrating this journey towards a more sustainable and flavorful world.
Frequently Asked Questions About Knorr's Sustainable Sourcing
The Sustainable Agriculture Principles (SAP) are a comprehensive framework developed by Unilever to guide sustainable practices in farming, plantation, and supply chain management. They replaced the previous Sustainable Agriculture Code (SAC) in 2024 and are used to assess and benchmark third-party agricultural standards, ensuring ethical and responsible sourcing.
As part of Unilever, Knorr directly benefits from and contributes to the Sustainable Agriculture Principles. By sourcing ingredients from suppliers who comply with these principles, Knorr ensures that its products are made with crops grown in an environmentally responsible and socially equitable manner, supporting a resilient food supply.
Unilever, including brands like Knorr, is committed to achieving 95% volume of its 12 key crops externally verified as sustainably sourced by 2030. This builds upon the 79% sustainably sourced volume achieved in 2024, demonstrating a clear path towards greater sustainability.
The Sustainable Agriculture Principles cover 12 key crops, including Cocoa, Vanilla, Tea, Paper & Board, Palm Oil, Coconut oil, Dairy, Vegetables & Herbs, Soy oil, Sugar, Rapeseed, and Cereals & Starches (such as Wheat, Corn, and Rice). This broad coverage ensures a wide impact on agricultural sustainability.
The SAPs are structured around six core principles. Specifically, they protect and regenerate nature by focusing on soil health, water conservation, and biodiversity, and drive climate action by minimizing greenhouse gases. They also respect and promote human rights by ensuring fair working conditions, contributing to livelihoods, and fostering safe environments.
For a comprehensive understanding of the required and recommended practices within the Sustainable Agriculture Principles, you can refer to the official Unilever document available at: https://www.unilever.com/files/unilever-sustainable-agricultural-principles-2024.pdf.