2009 Annual Report
Total Page:16
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Small Label... Great Year Table of Contents 3 Introducing 17 Coffee UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® 20 Cocoa UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® 4 Message from the Board by Nico Roozen 22 Tea UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® 6 Message from the UTZ CERTIFIED 23 Palm Oil Traced by UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® Team Good Inside® by Juliette Caulkins UTZ tracing palm oil for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 8 Certification Credibility and Innovation: 24 Round Table Developments The UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® Codes of Conduct and Certification 26 People Behind the Program 10 Producer Support 28 General Notes to the Accounts From good farmers to better businessmen Collaboration with Solidaridad 29 Comments to the 2009 Financial Statements 12 Monitoring and Evaluation 30 Financial Accounts 2009 Impacts of UTZ Certification in origin 32 Auditors Report 15 UTZ Traceability System Sustainable agriculture 33 Sponsors and transparent trade 34 Outlook 2010 16 Octopus by Juliette Caulkins 2 Introducing UTZ CERTIFIED UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® is UTZ CERTIFIED’s vision is to dedicated to creating an open achieve sustainable agricultural and transparent marketplace for supply chains in which: agricultural products. To achieve this UTZ CERTIFIED’s main tools are Farmers are professionals the UTZ Traceability System and implementing good practices. the Code of Conduct. These Industry (food, non-food, tools are like the two chambers energy) takes responsibility by of the heart or core of UTZ, demanding and rewarding whereby the Code of Conduct sustainably grown products. leads to good agricultural Consumers buy products practices and the Traceability that meet their standard for System leads to transparency of social and environmental trade markets. responsibility. Small Label... Great Year Message from the Board By Nico Roozen Some time ago, We had just passed the sixth productivity are the key factors for I had a meeting floor. I passed my exam. smart and sustainable land use. with a CEO of one After our arrival in the board The UTZ certification program of UTZ CERTIFIED’s room I explained further. is a first mover in this process business partners. We to adjust the coffee, cocoa, met each other at “The core strategy in the and tea sectors to these the entrance to his UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside® new standards: a challenging office building. He guided me to program is the focus on process of innovation. Farmers the elevator and asked, ‘Can you the economic aspects of are becoming agricultural give me an elevator pitch? My production. Higher quality, entrepreneurs, responding to the question is: What is UTZ CERTIFIED’s higher productivity and cost new demands of the market. mission? We have ten floors to go.’ reductions are the key aspects of our approach. Compared This annual report presents/ I was surprised and challenged; to other certification schemes, charts on the progress that we the doors closed and I began this emphasis is unique. The real have made. All stakeholders my pitch. “In essence, UTZ challenge is to produce more involved have made their CERTIFIED’s mission is to redefine with less: less inputs, because contributions: producers, traders, quality. Up to now, quality has fertilizers and pesticides will brand owners, retailers and civil been perceived as product become costly and scarce; society organizations. This joint quality: the physical appearance less water use, because of effort does not tell another story of a product and the taste. The the critical situation of water about reality; it changes reality. demand of the future is to add shortages; lower energy social and ecological quality to use throughout the chain to I want to express a special word this; a new three-dimensional decrease the pressure on of thanks to Juliette Caulkins, understanding of what quality natural resources. It’s also our interim Executive Director. is about. The company that necessary to produce fewer She has done an excellent understands this major switch outputs. For example: lower job. To lead an understaffed in business practice, and is a emissions of green house gasses. organization with limited first mover, will benefit from new resources, yet high ambition, is opportunities in the market.” ‘Precision agriculture’, with the not easy. She created a talented application of the best agricultural team with committed experts in “OK”, said the CEO, techniques and optimisation of all the fields of the UTZ CERTIFIED “this sounds good”. soil cultivation and vegetation operations. Juliette will continue 4 UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside Annual Report 2009 as Commercial Director while to improve our communication ambition to become a player Han de Groot joins us in February concept in order to reach a high in different sectors, from Coffee, as our new Executive Director. level of visibility of UTZ CERTIFIED Cocoa, Tea & Palm Oil, to As a board, we welcome him and our Good Inside program in expanding cooperation with and will support him in this the market place. The leading the roundtables for better sugar challenging and dynamic job. sustainability program and CSR and soy. In all of these sectors, concept for the future will be urgent changes are needed. UTZ For the year to come we have set multi-product. Among brands CERTIFIED Good Inside® is ready clear targets. We want to improve and retailers, there is growing to play its role. our governance structure and criticism of the proliferation of to transform the organization sustainability labels. Consumers in to a vital multi-stakeholder are confused and multi-product organization with full participation companies prefer one supplier and a fair say for all partners for their sustainability programs. Nico Roozen involved in our program. We want Therefore, it is UTZ CERTIFIED’s President of the Board of Directors Small Label... Great Year Message from the UTZ CERTIFIED Team By Juliette Caulkins I am proud to responsibility by demanding product specific Code present the UTZ and rewarding sustainably Development, facilitating CERTIFIED Good grown products, and consumers Certified farms and enabling Inside® 2009 buy products that meet producer training workshops. Annual Report. their standard for social and Enclosed you will environmental responsibility. What this clearly showed find our noted us, is that amid this climate, achievements, financial Against the backdrop of a sustainability remains statement and milestones which financial crisis and consumer critical to businesses and illustrate our outreach and unease in 2009, the UTZ governments even during an efforts to create an open and CERTIFIED Good Inside® economic downturn. transparent marketplace for program still recorded a 6% agricultural products. increase in purchasing of Issues such as climate change, certified volumes of Coffee and human rights and corruption I also want to thank the in its first year the UTZ Traceability will not vanish as a result of tremendous UTZ Team System tracked more than economic decline. Whether worldwide who work with 100,000 metric tons of RSPO it be called “green”, “eco- passion and excellence to certified sustainable Palm Oil. friendly”, or “sustainable”, it achieve sustainable agricultural is about environmental and supply chains in which farmers Additionally, both the Cocoa socially sound practices as an are professionals implementing and Tea Programs met their integral part of our lives and good practices, industry takes milestones of achieving what we do. The business case 6 UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside Annual Report 2009 for managing these and other An understanding emerged that issues is abundantly clear. At UTZ sustainability must reach through CERTIFIED we would even argue the entire supply chain and that companies operating in a that a new vision is needed on difficult economic environment sustainable agriculture practices have much to gain by which addresses production, improving their environmental environmental and social needs and social performance. all together. 2009 saw industry making In 2009 “going green and commitments to sustainable sustainable” moved to business practices as part of a become more of a lifestyle, long term strategic framework part of our DNA, rather than which looked to act beyond just a trend or buzzword to be one financial year. incorporated somewhere in a marketing statement. Brands and retailers became public about running their business in a responsible way, sharing their long-term visions, designing supplier codes, and engaging with Juliette Caulkins stakeholders in the local arena. Interim Executive Director Small Label... Great Year Certification Credibility and Innovation: The UTZ CERTIFIED Codes of Conduct and Certification “Becoming a full ISEAL Based on the experiences of the and Vietnam (December) and member is an important UTZ program and stakeholder a new version of the Internal step for UTZ CERTIFIED, consultations in 2009, UTZ Control System (ICS) Manual for underlining our commitment CERTIFIED revised and launched Coffee was released. to credibility, transparency three new UTZ CERTIFIED Good and constructive Inside® Codes of Conduct! Within the framework of the cooperation within the The Coffee Code was the first UTZ CERTIFIED Cocoa program, sustainability sector!” one to be released with its ICS trainings for producer new continuous improvement organizations were held both Britta Wyss-Bissang structure – and the response in Côte d’Ivoire and in Ghana UTZ CERTIFIED Standards from both the field and and a completely new and and Certification Manager