Apr 12, 2018

Sustainability Standard spurs new certification program

Certification under the newly developed SFG Sustainability Standard is now available for food producers and processors interested in communicating sustainability performance to trade buyers.  The certification standard uses multiple internationally-recognized environmental, economic, and social welfare measures and may be added as an addendum to food safety audits, saving auditees time and money, or as a stand-alone assessment.

This new certification follows Azzule’s successes with PrimusGFS and the Local Farmer Program, and utilizes Azzule’s expertise in audit analytics. The Sustainable Food Group has leveraged its experience and proficiency in building a program that balances the needs of buyers and producers and reduces costs throughout supply chains.

The science-based Standard covers 16 categories recognizing best practices, performance metrics, and continuous improvement. The Standard provides automatic credit for producers participating in other programs including the National Organic Program, Sysco’s Sustainable/Integrated Pest Management Initiative, the Potato Sustainability Initiative, LEAF Marque, and Whole Foods Market Responsibly Grown. The Standard also recognizes participant use of consensus tools including Cool Farm Tool for calculating greenhouse gas emissions, select Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops metrics, and the Pesticide Risk Tool™.

Interested processors and producers are invited to ask their food safety certifier if this new option can be made available through them. For more information, contact Ali Loker at the Sustainable Food Group in Madison, WI, at 608-232-1410 or [email protected]. Interested certification bodies and food buyers may also contact Ms. Loker for participation details. The Sustainability Standard is now in public comment period and will continue accepting feedback regarding Standard documents until June 1, 2018. 

Azzule Systems is a provider of global data management solutions for agriculture and food processors, and the scheme owner and developer of the industry-leading PrimusGFS food safety audit. The Sustainable Food Group is a project of the IPM Institute of North America, Inc., a non-profit with an 18-year track record of designing science-based programming for food industry leaders to meet the needs of buyers and producers for credible documentation of continuous improvement on key sustainability indicators. Partners include Lamb Weston, McCain Foods, Simplot, Sysco, and Whole Foods Market.