Verified SUSTAINABLE BEET CULTIVATION
SAI Platform is the most important non-profit member based organization founded by the food and beverage industry to support the development of sustainable agriculture practices across the globe.
Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA)
The centerpiece of the initiative is the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA), which is used to verify on-farm practices covering economic, environmental, and social aspects. Main thematic areas of the FSA area:
- Farm management
- Soil and nutrient management
- Waste handling
- Water management
- Crop protection handling and application
- Biodiversity
- Labour conditions
The practices are third-party verified by an auditor and the farmers are rewarded bronze, silver or gold level.
Since 2019, 100% of Nordzucker beet growers have been included in the verification process and silver level is the minimum performance standard we accept in our delivery contracts.
Additionally, SAI Platform offers training material and workshops on sustainable sourcing practices in agricultural raw material supply chains. For Nordzucker the SAI Platform is an excellent opportunity to exchange pre-competitive with other food companies on agricultural topics to increase the sustainability of farming operations.
You can find our current SAI verification statements here.
REDcert
In Germany we are using the European certification system REDcert, which has been benchmarked to the SAI FSA standard. We use the REDcert system to certify our beets due to the production of Bioethanol in Klein Wanzleben. At the moment the Sugar beet growers are third-party audited on silver level.
You can find our current REDcert certification statement here.