Only sustainably sourced raw materials

Sustainable procurement must take economic, social and ecological sustainability into account. It requires a committed procurement organization as well as rules, guidelines and their monitoring. 

 

The company's procurement processes are regulated by the EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD), which guides and obliges companies to observe due diligence in their supply chain. The purpose of the directive is to promote sustainable development and responsibility throughout the company's value chain, ensure that the company takes human rights and environmental aspects into account in its operations, and create common standards within the EU.

 

CSDD is based on the UN AND OECD guidelines for international companies, and Atria has been committed to them for years.

However, Atria is not just about complying with the law and directives. A sustainable supply chain is part of a company's risk management and a response to customer demands for a transparent value chain.

 

Planet, product and people

Atria's sustainability is crystallized in three focus areas: the planet, product and people. It requires ensuring supplier governance, environmental and social sustainability, and product quality. It is a collaboration in which the purchasing organization plays a major role.

 

- Our goal is to have a value chain that is as clean, safe and transparent as possible, where animal welfare is verified. We also want to promote sustainable food production, says Riikka Koskenranta, ESGQ Officer at Atria Group.

 

Atria's Supplier Code of Conduct outlines the requirements and expectations for them: partners are required to comply with internationally recognized agreements, recommendations and regulations. As part of the procurement agreement, partners sign Atria's Supplier Code of Conduct.

 

When selecting partners, country-specific responsibility risks, such as the level of corruption or ratification of international human rights or labor standards, are also carefully assessed.

 

The new supplier fills out a questionnaire to determine whether the set requirements have been met. The form is in Atria's supplier management system, where the supplier being assessed also uploads certificates and other documents to verify the answers they provide.

 

The responses are reviewed and compared to Atria's requirements. The supplier can be approved based on the responses, additional investigations can be carried out and, if necessary, an on-site audit can be carried out. This is done by Atria's procurement, quality and responsibility experts.

 

Once an agreement has been reached and deliveries of goods begin, continuous in-house monitoring is initiated, and, for example, the quality of incoming product batches is checked. The suppliers from whom Atria purchases plastic sausage casings have also gone through this process. The plastic casings are manufactured and crimped in the EU.  Plastic casings are used in gotler-type sausages, most of which are made in Atria Sweden, where Falukorv is a major product. Atria purchases over 5,000 kilometers of plastic casing per year.

 

Supervised well-being

The production guidelines that guide Atria's contract producers deal with many issues that govern animal welfare and can help minimize the need for medication. Producers have committed to following the guidelines, and the use of antibiotics has decreased in the chain. Intact tails are a specialty of Finnish production, which speaks to the well-being and good conditions of the animals. Tails and many other aspects related to pig health are monitored in the pig farm health classification register Sikava, which is required by the production guidelines. Public health veterinarians make health visits to farms at least four times a year. All pig farms in Atria belong to Sikava.

 

Production guidelines have guided Atria farms in animal husbandry and feeding for twenty years. As society develops, environmental and social responsibility perspectives have been added to the guidelines. There are instructions for maintaining the nutrient balance of field crops and controlling the carbon footprint. Biosecurity includes requirements for a self-monitoring plan and documentation, which extend not only to the farm, but also to the feed factory. There is zero tolerance for the prevalence of Salmonella.

 

Social sustainability is represented by requirements for written employment contracts and prohibitions on the use of child labor.

– Society is our customer, we feed it and its people. If we want to continue to make food for the next 120 years, we must act in accordance with society's demands – and it's not just about existence but also about profitability, says Taneli Tirkkonen, veterinarian at the Atria Sika chain.

 

According to Tirkkonen, the integrated Atri food chain is unique in the entire world.

– We have the entire chain in our hands, from replacement animals through feeding, slaughtering and meat processing to the consumer, he says.

 

Sustainability as teamwork

Risk raw materials, such as products covered by the Deforestation Regulation, play a role in ensuring sustainable procurement. The due diligence system ensures that the purchased raw materials and end products meet the obligations of the Deforestation Regulation.

Procurement is an integral part of Atria's sustainability work, says Joachim Ländin, Atria Group vice president procurement nonmeat. The work is done together with quality experts, the responsibility team and other internal stakeholders.

– At Atria, we are proud of our commitment and contribution to sustainability work. We want to ensure a sustainable future for next generations to come. Our work is based on three fundamental pillars: the planet, product and people, says Ländin.

 

Learn more about Atria's sustainability program