Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Foods), a leading agro-industrial conglomerate and shrimp producer and exporter, received the highest scores in the areas of Stewardship of the supply chain and Human rights and working conditions on Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI), a sustainability benchmark for seafood industry.
CP Foods is also ranked the third best in the world on the overall score, displaying a strong performance in most of the sustainability areas.
According to the SSI report quoted that CP Foods stands out as one of the most transparent companies in the benchmark in regard to its sustainability reporting and company-wide policies. It praised the company for its transparency and a robust mix of social and environmental commitment with a measureable progress. Being placed as an industry’s leader reflects the company commitments on producing quality foods from highly responsible sources with a minimal impact to society and environment.
Dr. Sujint Thammasart, DVM, Chief Operating Officer – Aquaculture Business of CP Foods, said the company has committed that all products are made from sustainable and slavery-free sources throughout supply chain. Moreover, the operations are governed by policies, such as Human Rights Policy, Employment and Labour Management Policy and Sustainable Sourcing Policy and Supplier Guiding Principle. Particularly, the company has made a statement on Slavery and Human Trafficking to report its progress in human rights works, covering both the company’s operations and supply chains.
The company tops its peers in supply chain stewardship, as a result of commitments toward improving product traceability, responsible sourcing and environment footprint mitigation. Further, it is an industry leader in human rights and working conditions.
The report noted that a grievance management process has made the company standout of its peers. Labour Voices Hotlines has provided a hotline service in Myanmar, Cambodian, and Thai to ensure that all workers, regardless of nationality, can gain access to this hotline channel for voicing grievances, or seeking assistance in a timely manner.
Dr. Sujint added that 100% of fishmeal sourced and used for Thailand operations has come from sources certified by the IFFO Responsible Supply (IFFO RS), an internationally recognized standard for marine ingredients. The company extended good practices to its overseas aquaculture operations in Vietnam, India and the Philippines. CP Foods also has been in active collaboration with IFFO RS to develop the assessment criteria for responsible multispecies fisheries in South and Southeast Asia.
“It is important to note that the company have never been an operator nor owner of any fishing vessel. However, as one of the world’s biggest shrimp feed producers, we are committed to promoting sustainability in the seafood industry to address various concerns including marine resource degradation, unfair labour practices, human rights violation, and impacts on the community from IUU fishing,” Dr. Sujint stressed.
CP Foods operates sustainability-focused operations. It has been listed in globally recognized sustainability indexes including Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Emerging Markets 2019 for five consecutive years and FTSE 4 Good Emerging Index for three consecutive years.
The Seafood Stewardship Index, a tool developed by World Benchmarking Alliance, aims to enhance sustainability in seafood supply chain in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thirty seafood industry’s global leaders were benchmarked in aspects, including Governance and management of stewardship practices, Stewardship of the supply chain, Ecosystems, Human rights and working conditions and Supporting for local communities.
