2022 Biennial Corporate Social Responsibility Report — Doing Good, Works
DOING GOOD, WORKS 2022 BIENNIAL CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT
TABLE of CONTENTS
01 OUR CO-OP
04 WITHIN OUR WALLS
Quality & Purity Certifications
26 27 28 29 30
3 4 5 6 7 8
47
Message from Our CEO
Breaking Down Barriers
48 49 50
Marketing Essential Oils Resiliance & Well Earth
About Us
Flexible and Affordable Childcare
Our Brands
Apprenticeships
CDP Projects
3 Pillars of Our Purpose
Second Chance Hiring
51
Cooperations Among Co-ops FEDECOVERA Projects Responsibly Sourced Vanilla Madagascar & Uganda An Ongoing Commitment
31
Targets for Social Responsibility
Transportation
52 53 54 55 56 57
32 33 34 35
Awards
9
Benefits & Culture Highlighted Benefits
Our History
11
Cooperative Business Model Seven Cooperative Principles
12 13 14 15 16
Employee Health & Wellness Development Opportunities
Board of Directors Management Team Our Stakeholders
Workforce Goals
03 IN OUR COMMUNITIES
36
05 APPENDIX
58
Nourishing People and Planet Simply Organic Giving Fund
37
38 Aura Cacia Positive Change Project 39 Investing in Our Community 40 Supporting Employee Giving 41 Protecting People and Planet 42 Diverting Our Waste from Landfill 43 Investing in Renewable Energy 44 Responsible Use of Resources 45 Impact of Our Packaging 46
General Information GRI Index — General
59 65
02 AT SOURCE
18
GRI Index — Economic 70 GRI Index — Product Responsibility 72
Approach to Responsible Sourcing
19
Our Key Commitments
20
Responsible Sourcing Video Well Earth Impact Sourcing Map
21
22 23 24 25
A note about the dates in this report: We report in accordance with our fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. The fiscal years during which data is collected are named according to their ending calendar year — for example, the fiscal year ending 6/30/22 is referred to as FY22.
Definitions
Traceability & Transparency Commitments to Quality
2
ABOUT OUR CO-OP SECTION 1
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MESSAGE from OUR CEO
Thank you for taking the time to read our 2022 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. As a member-owned co-op, sustainability and responsibility to all our stakeholders has always been fundamental to who we are. This biennial report is a labor of love for our team as we continue to evolve our goals and our approaches to meeting them in order to better address the changing needs of our customers, our consumers, our employees and our sourcing partners. Frontier Co-op’s approach to social responsibility is framed by our purpose statement — the idea that ‘Doing Good, Works’. We’ve divided this work into three pillars focused on improving the lives of everyone our co-op touches: doing good at source, doing good in our communities, and doing good within our walls. While it has certainly been a difficult couple of years due to the global pandemic and its continued impact on our supply chain, our operations, and the individ- ual lives of everyone our co-op touches, thanks to our cooperative business model, these global challenges haven’t changed our commitment and our ability to live out this purpose. In September 2022, I had the opportunity to travel to a co-op in Cobán, Guatemala to visit one of our supply chain partners for the first time since the pandemic and see firsthand the impact of our recent community- and business-building projects in their community. Thanks in part to the generous contributions of our member-owners, we’ve been able to maintain our social giving budget of more than $1 million per year to community causes both domestically and around the world. As far as our impact within our walls, our Breaking Down Barriers to Employment initiative has been acknowledged globally for providing critical employment support in our region from childcare to transportation, apprenticeship, and second chance hiring practices. These stories of our co-op’s global impact continue to inspire me to push the boundaries of the ‘good work’ our co-op can do. This is what “Doing Good, Works” means to us at Frontier Co-op. It’s not a tagline; it’s a way of doing business that works for everyone involved. Please feel free to reach out to me at ceo@frontiercoop.com if you have any comments or questions about the information provided in this report, or to discuss any ideas you may have for ways our co-op can continue to improve in the future.
Tony Bedard, CEO Frontier Co-op
Photo: Tony Bedard, CEO of Frontier Co-op, visits the new mobile medical clinic the co-op funded in Cobán, Guatemala
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In all that we do, at all times and with all people, we will conduct our affairs and the affairs of the company with unwavering integrity. VALUES
ABOUT US
EMPLOYEES
Since 1976, Frontier Co-op ® has been showing the world that Doing Good, Works. Now more than 50,000 member-owners strong, we’re still dedicated to sourcing the highest quality spices, herbs and botanical products for our Frontier Co-op, Simply Organic ® , Aura Cacia ® , and Plant Boss ® brands — all while creating life-changing opportunities for our growers, employees and their families. We’re driven by a simple purpose: to do good by our people and planet. And to create a stronger company built on a commitment to quality and sustainability.
50,000
our
4 Facilities in
Nourish people and planet. Always be fair.
1. Norway: Headquarters, corporate offices & bottling operations 2. North Liberty: Processing (receive in raw materials from around the world) 3. Belle Plaine: Distribution 4. Urbana: Aura Cacia
Photo: Kathleen Brewer, Research and Development Lead, shows off the co-op kitchen’s ingredient shelves
At Frontier Co-op, we believe that Doing Good, Works. Every grower community we invest in creates a steady supply of quality products, year after year. And every employee we empower puts their passion into products they believe in — making a difference our customers can see, smell, taste and feel. It’s a win for our people, our products and our Co-op.
Doing Good, Works
PURPOSE OUR
Learn more at: www.frontiercoop.com
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OUR BRANDS
FRONTIER CO-OP We are Frontier Co-op. 50,000 member owners strong and a power- ful force of good in the world. As an ethically committed herb and spice brand with a broad culinary and wellness portfolio, we are united by our mission to put people and planet before profits.
SIMPLY ORGANIC We are Simply Organic. The original, all-organic spice brand that lives up to the promise of our name in all that we cultivate and bring to the table. We believe in nourishing lives and preserving the Earth for generations to come, all through inherently better food. Pure and simple.
AURA CACIA When it comes to pure essential oils, it all begins at the botanical source. Aura Cacia is committed to delivering essential oils from all over the world with integrity and botanical authority.
PLANT BOSS Our newest brand, Plant Boss, was created in 2019 and is committed to great-tasting plant-based foods for a healthier you and a healthier planet.
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DOING GOOD, WORKS
3 PILLARS OF OUR PURPOSE
DOING GOOD, WORKS AT SOURCE
DOING GOOD, WORKS IN OUR COMMUNITIES $1 Million+ contributed annually to causes around the world Environmental Stewardship Employee-Supported Giving
DOING GOOD, WORKS WITHIN OUR WALLS
Breaking Down Barriers to Employment Second Chance Hiring Practices Subsidized Onsite Childcare
Community Building
Business Building
Responsible Sourcing
Photo: Farmers presenting a basket of freshly harvested turmeric in India
Photo: Frontier Co-op’s Boulder, Colorado office volunteering with local non-profit partner, Project Worthmore
Photo: A quick capture of the playground at Frontier Co-op’s onsite childcare facility in Norway, Iowa
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CORPORATE TARGETS for SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
SOURCING TARGETS:
PACKAGING TARGETS:
ZERO WASTE TARGETS:
ENERGY & EMISSIONS TARGETS: We strive to reduce the GHG impact of our operations to the best of our ability. We continue to support renewable energy onsite at our facilities, and continuously evaluate opportunities to expand. Whatever energy we’re not able to generate ourselves, we have committed to off- setting through the purchase of RECs and carbon offsets. • 100% of Scope I and II emissions offset through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
WORKFORCE TARGETS:
As a consumer packaged goods manufacturer, we have a responsibility for not only our products, but their pack- aging as well, from transport to the store shelf all the way to our consumers’ homes. Our goal is to minimize the impact of our packaging to the best of our ability by incorporating recycled con- tent and communicating with consumers to ensure it is disposed of responsibly. • Maintain recycled content of packaging at 36% • Maintain recyclability of packaging at 89%
We firmly believe in minimizing the impact of our operations, including ensuring that waste from our facilities is disposed of in an environmentally responsible way. Our goal as an organization is to reach 90% diversion of our waste from landfill through recycling and composting streams. • Divert more than 90% of waste from landfill from each of our four Iowa facilities by 2025
A diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences is fundamental to our success at Frontier Co-op. We’re committed to continuing to improve on the diversity of our workforce from the floor to the C Suite. • Women represent 50% of management • 50% of our entry-level employees hired through our Breaking Down Barriers to Employment program
We believe that doing good starts at source and we’re committed to ensuring that our sourcing practices have a positive impact in all the communities we touch. • SMETA audits conducted in areas identified as high-risk by Sedex assessment • $5MM invested in supply chain development through Well Earth and externally- funded programs by FY26
or Verified Emission Reductions (VERs)
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AWARDS and RECOGNITION
We're so proud of the impact that our Breaking Down Barriers to Employment initiative has had in the lives of our employees and apprentices, and our commu- nity as a whole. In the last year, this innovative initiative has received recognition from publications and awards across our region, the U.S., and around the world. REUTERS RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS AWARD Social and Human Capital – Highly Commended This prestigious award program recognizes leadership in sustainable business from around the world. ENGAGE FOR GOOD HALO AWARD Best Social Service Initiative – Silver Engage for Good’s Halo Awards are North America’s highest honor for corporate social impact initiatives.
WORKFORCE INNOVATION AWARD Childcare Program
The Corridor Business Journal’s annual award recognizing outstanding employers demonstrating creativity and innovation in their workplace.
INC 2022 BEST IN BUSINESS Correctional Re-Entry Services
Published annually, this list recognizes companies who have demon- strated influence in their communities, their industries, the environment, or society as a whole.
» Jump to the Doing Good, Works Within Our Walls section to read more about the impactful programs that make up our co-op’s Breaking Down Barriers to Employment initiative!
Photo (top): Frontier Co-op’s onsite, subsidized childcare program at their Norway headquarters is licensed to serve 112 children, and costs parents only $2/hr. Photo (bottom): Since it’s origin in 2017, Frontier Co-op’s Breaking Down Barriers to Employment programs have been providing job skills training to employees from a diverse array of backgrounds.
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Two young women laugh as they near Frontier Co-op’s mobile medical clinic in Cobán, Guatemala.
Frontier Co-op’s IT team helps an employee address a challenge.
Chef Liz prepares a healthy and organic lunch for our Norway, Iowa employees every day.
Frontier Co-op provides 8 hours of paid volunteer time to employees every year.
Employees visit a non-profit grocery store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa supported by Frontier Co-op’s local giving.
A Frontier Co-op employee ensures bottles are facing the right direction before they enter the machine to be filled with product.
From my family farm in Ohio to the White House to the corporate sector to serving on the Frontier Board, I never hesitate to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Serving tens of thousands of members that are unified by a shared set of values to produce high quality products that are made with respect for the environment and the people who grow and manufacture them is incredibly inspiring. Let’s show the world how Frontier Co-op leads with action. — Deb Eschmeyer, Board Member
10
We are a MEMBER-OWNED co-op, responsible to PEOPLE and PLANET.
1976
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
• Frontier began as a
• Added first organic products to line • Moved operations to Fairfax, IA • Began bottling essential oils • Incorporated as a cooperative owned by customers
• Appointed first Board of Directors • Built facility in Norway, IA • Established on-site childcare and café • Became a certified organic processor
• Launched Frontier Co-op brand of spices • Bought Aura Cacia aromatherapy brand • Opened coffee roasting plant in Vinton, IA
• Created the Simply Organic brand • Established the Well Earth program
• Purchased North Liberty facility • Purchased Belle Plaine warehouse facility • Innovation Center built at our Norway headquarters
• Created the Plant Boss brand • Aura Cacia Positive Change Project surpassed $1 Million in contributions
two-person operation in a river cabin in Eastern Iowa
OUR HISTORY
Frontier Co-op (originally named “Frontier Herbs”) began as a two-person operation in 1976 in a cabin along the Cedar River in Eastern Iowa. The business was originally structured as a cooperative that supplied wholesale herbs and spices to our mem- ber-owners, repackaging several hundred varieties of herbs and spices into smaller one- and two-pound bags. Those member-owners then resold these products in bulk to their retail consumers. Rapid growth resulted in the purchase of a ten-acre parcel of Iowa farmland in 1982 near Norway, Iowa, and the construction of a 21,000-square foot facility, which today serves as our cooperative’s headquarters. Plant expansions in 1984, 1988, and 1993 increased this facility to over 85,000 square feet. Today, Frontier Co-op owns an additional 50 acres of land adjacent to the main facility, 22 acres of which are main- tained as tallgrass prairie. The co-op subsequently purchased and remodeled facilities in the nearby Iowa towns of Urbana, North Liberty, and Belle Plaine. In 1981, Frontier Co-op elected its first Board of Directors. Still focused on bulk, our Frontier Co-op brand had been an industry leader in rec- ognizing the value of organic agriculture and promoting organically grown products
since the 1980s. In 1988, we introduced a Frontier Co-op line of packaged spices that developed into a significant sales contributor and laid important groundwork for the establishment of the Simply Organic ® brand in 2002. Simply Organic quickly became the fastest growing brand in natural seasonings and the leading brand in the explosive- ly growing category of organic seasonings. Early in its history, Frontier Co-op had also accommodated its members by buying bulk quantities of essential oils and rebottling them into .33-ounce glass bottles. This line grew steadily as the concept and practice of aromatherapy became increasingly popular. In 1993, Frontier Co-op acquired Aura Cacia ® , a fast-growing essential oils and essential oils-based personal care products company based out of Weaverville, CA. Today, the brand has grown to become the clear market leader in natural health outlets nationwide. Over more than four decades, Frontier Co-op has grown to distribute our products through a wide range of customers: distributors, wholesale members, wholesale non-members, and retail customers that place orders via phone, mail and the co-op’s websites. The bulk of our sales continue to be to retailers in the U.S. and Canada.
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The co-op’s profits are shared according to member purchases that year.
Shoppers buy the co-op’s products from our members.
THE BENEFITS OF A COOPERATIVE BUSINESS MODEL In many ways, cooperatives are like any other business. We’re a for-profit entity similar to our competitors, and our member-owners earn dividends from our profits in the form of patronage. Co-ops are even incorporated in most cases, filing papers with the state as a specially structured corporation. Similarly to other corporations, we have bylaws and a board of directors that sets policy and oversees our manage- ment who runs the day-to-day operations. However, co-ops are different from other businesses in that they are owned and controlled (through the election of a Board) by members who have direct partici- pation in the business. There are many types of co-ops, but typically the participa- tion is as a customer or supplier of the co-op. This is the case with Frontier Co-op. We’re owned, as we have been from the beginning, by our wholesale customers — the stores and other organizations that purchase and resell our products. These member-owners provide the capital for our business to continue to operate, but they also share in the co-op’s earnings, and have a governance role as member- owners through an elected Board of Directors. This special ownership structure is at the heart of our success. We have unique insight into the natural products industry because our member-owners are in direct contact every day with natural products consumers. Moreover, this unique structure has fostered honest, responsible business practices for more than four decades. At Frontier Co-op, we believe that Doing Good, Works. Investing in our sourcing partners and their communities is not charity; it’s just good business. Giving 5% of our profits to socially and environmentally driven causes across the U.S. and around the world is just being responsible global citizens. And investing to break down barriers to employment in our own company and in our community is just using our business as a source for good in the world. It’s not that we couldn’t or wouldn’t do these things if we were a traditional individually or publicly owned corporation. But being cooperatively owned by tens of thousands of members advocating for doing the right thing reinforces our values and allows us to take the long view when it comes to our business decisions. We’re a different business in a different world than when we started in 1976, but Frontier Co-op’s commitment to our founding values — and those of our members — remains strong.
Stores and organizations re-selling our products.
Members get one vote each to elect a Board of Directors to represent them in their co-op’s decisions.
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SEVEN COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLES
MEMBERS ECONOMIC
democratic
voluntary OPEN MEMBERSHIP
autonomy
INDEPENDENCE
AND
CONCERN for the COMMUNITY
TRAINING & INFORMATION
cooperation AMONG
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BOARD of DIRECTORS
Frontier Co-op is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors, made up of six patron directors who are elected by the membership on a one-member, one-vote basis for three-year terms; two at-large directors who are elected by the patron directors for two-year terms; and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. The Board’s mandate is to provide direction and oversight for the business and affairs of the Cooperative, and to act in the interests of the members.
Lindy Bannister
Tony Bedard, CEO Management Director, Treasurer, Secretary
Sarah Bird
My current roles in both Blue Diamond Growers and Frontier Co-op allow me to work for cooperatives and the pleasure of working in values-rich environments. For me, these environments provide the ‘why’ to the ‘what’ by working to help sustain family farming in the United States or markets for world-wide natural/organic products. This is rewarding and gratifying work.
Dean LaVallee President
Debra Eschmeyer
Pedro Garcia
— Dean LaVallee, Frontier Co-op Board President
Kevin Malchoff Vice President
Phil Meldrum
Tom Stokes
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MANAGEMENT TEAM
Frontier Co-op is led by a ten-person Management Team with a diverse array of expertise and experience in their field. This team upholds our company’s values in determining the strategic direction of our co-op, and guides our employees every day to fully live our mission and our purpose.
Tony Bedard Chief Executive Officer
John Connelly Vice President of Marketing
Ravin Donald, PhD. Executive Vice President of Operations
Nicole Erickson Vice President of Finance
Laura Kuykendall Vice President of Marketing
Clint Landis Senior Vice President of Business Development
Mike Wehr Vice President of Operations
Todd Minichilli Senior Vice President of Sales
Eduardo Pulido Vice President of Information Technology
Megan Schulte Vice President of Human Resources
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OUR STAKEHOLDERS
RETAILERS As we continue to grow our co-op, we have expanded to working with additional retailers outside of our cooperative membership. We work closely with these retailers to ensure that we are meeting their quality and service expectations, and that they are safely communicating information about our products in their stores.
SOURCING PARTNERS Our co-op sources raw materials from over 50 countries around the world. This means we have to be vigilant when it comes to ensuring our suppliers have a positive impact on their people and the environment, but it also means a great deal of responsibility in ensuring that we’re treating every supplier and farming family with honesty and integrity.
INDUSTRY As members of the Organic Trade Association, the Sustainable Spice Initiative, the American Herbal Products Association, and American Spice Trade Association, we work closely with our industry counterparts to identify and address risks, and develop industry-wide solutions to challenges as they arise.
MEMBER-OWNERS Our 50,000 cooperative member-owners are the retailers who purchase and resell our products in their stores. We have a responsibility to our mem- bership to not only maintain the financial stability of our company, but ensure that in all we do, our company is living our shared mission every day.
SURROUNDING COMMUNITY We firmly believe that our co-op’s social
EMPLOYEES We have more than 550 employees between our four Iowa facilities, our Boulder satellite office, and our remote sales team spread across the US. We firmly believe that fulfilling our responsibility to this team is one of the most important things we do as a company, from our Breaking Down Barriers to Employment initiative to ample personal and professional growth opportunities.
responsibility extends far beyond the four walls of our facilities. Because of this, we’re dedicated to contributing 5% of our profits each year to non-profits across the U.S. and Canada, and to our sourcing communities around the world.
CONSUMERS At Frontier Co-op, we’re dedicated to sourcing only the highest quality ingredients and botanical products from around the world. We are committed to full ingredient disclosure in all our products, maintain stringent standards for ingredient safety, and never treat our products with irradiation or chemical pasteurization like ETO.
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Two farmers smile at Project Worthmore, a long time Simply Organic Giving Fund partner who serves immigrant and refugee families in Aurora, CO.
A young boy plays with a ukelele near Cob á n, Guatemala, where Frontier Co-op has funded more than $376,000 in community, and business-building projects since 2009.
Doing Good, Works is at the heart of Frontier Co-op. It is key to our Mission and to our Vision. The more successful we are, the more 'good' we can do. — Kevin Malchoff, Board Vice President
A child and his mother wait in line for services at the mobile medical and dental clinic at Cooperative Santa Maria funded by Frontier Co-op.
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DOING GOOD WORKS at SOURCE SECTION 2
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A young cardamom farmer shows off a basket of freshly harvested cardamom pods.
A mother and her two children visiting the new mobile medical clinic at Cooperative Santa Maria.
Farmers harvesting tea leaves in India.
OUR APPROACH TO RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
Since its inception in 2007, Frontier Co-op’s impact sourcing program, Well Earth, has been used as our framework for the responsible sourcing of our ingredients and botanicals from suppliers around the world. We are incredibly proud of this legacy program, and the long-term relationships with our suppliers that have resulted from it. However, the world has changed significantly over the past decade, as has our industry. To remain leaders in sustainable sourcing, we knew that Frontier Co-op needed to take a step back and take a fresh look at our approach as well. Today, we are proud to present our new multi-faceted approach to responsible sourcing. Well Earth remains an important component of our sustainable sourcing work, focused on our investments at source to improve the resiliency of our sourcing partners around the world. However, it is now also flanked by heavier investment
in transparency and traceability across our supply chain and a commitment to working collaboratively within our industry to address larger scale, more systemic challenges that we can’t tackle alone. This two-pronged approach prioritizing traceability and transpar- ency within our supply chain, and supporting the resilience of our sourcing partners around the world reflects a renewed commitment to integrity and responsibility in our sourcing strategy, and an acknowledgement that when it comes to global social and environmental challenges, if we want to make real change, we’ll have to do it together. We are glad to have witnessed the shift in our industry over the last decade toward more companies holding themselves accountable for the social and environmental impact of their global sourcing practices. We know that we can do more together than we could ever do alone.
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At Frontier Co-op, our responsible sourcing work revolves around these two key commitments: OUR KEY COMMITMENTS TO RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
Investing in the RESILIENCY of our sourcing partners around the world through our Well Earth grant program.
TRACEABILITY & TRANSPARENCY throughout our supply chain — not only for our team, but for our consumers.
RESILIENCY: » Jump to the Well Earth & CDP section » Jump to the CDP Projects section » Jump to the FEDECOVERA section
TRACEABILITY & TRANSPARENCY: » Jump to the Responsible Supply Chain section » Jump to the Commitment to Quality section » Jump to the Quality and Purity section » Jump to the Certifications section » Jump to the Responsibility in Marketing Essential Oils section
» Jump to the Responsibly Sourced Vanilla section » Jump to the An Ongoing Commitment section
Photo: Farmer presenting tea leaves during harvest in India.
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RESPONSIBLE SOURCING at FRONTIER CO-OP
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FRONTIER CO-OP IMPACT SOURCING MAP
CANADA
POLAND
CZECHIA
DENMARK
ESTONIA
GERMANY
HUNGARY UKRAINE
NETHERLANDS
FRANCE
BULGARIA
ITALY
KOREA
SPAIN
USA
JAPAN
ISRAEL
TURKEY
MOROCCO
CHINA
MEXICO
VIETNAM
EGYPT
PAKISTAN
GUATEMALA
INDONESIA
GHANA
JAMAICA
SOMALIA INDIA
ETHIOPIA
SRI LANKA
PERU
UGANDA
COMOROS
BRAZIL
MADAGASCAR
SOUTH AFRICA
ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA
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Photo: Organic tea (Camellia Sinensis) growing in southern India.
SUSTAINABLY SOURCED
OUR OBJECTIVE: To increase our volume of sustainably sourced materials and ingredients as our co-op continues to grow. We define 'sustainably sourced' as those that are organic and/or Fair Trade certified. As of FY22, this constitutes more than 80% of our purchases by volume.
WHY ORGANIC?
NOURISH PEOPLE & PLANET. ALWAYS BE FAIR. As our mission statement, this simple sentence guides our business here at Frontier Co-op. Supporting organic agriculture is a key component of fulfill- ing that mission. At Frontier Co-op, 80% of the botanicals we source from around the world are raised organically. In our food business, that number has climbed to almost 83%. We firmly believe that organic agricultural prac- tices are better for our environment from our soil to our water and food; and better for people from farming families all the way through to our consumers.
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TRACEABILITY & TRANSPARENCY
ENSURING A RESPONSIBLE SUPPLY CHAIN One of the new elements of our traceability strategy is our membership in Sedex – one of the world’s leading ethical trade membership organizations. Sedex provides businesses an online platform with tools and resources to help suppliers operate more responsibly and sustainably, protect their workers and farmers, and ensure their sourcing partners are doing the same. Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) is a tool that allows Sedex members to assess the social impact of their entire supply chain. Third-party auditors conduct site visits with suppliers and assess their activities based on standards of workforce health and safety, environmental practices, and business ethics. These are critical categories that help Frontier Co-op assess a supplier’s responsible business practices and compliance with social standards and expectations. Not every supplier, however, requires a full SMETA. The first step in any supplier engagement is to send them a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), which provides buyers from Frontier Co-op vital information about a supplier’s business practices and potential areas for improvement to help enhance performance and impact. The SAQ is organized around SMETA’s four pillars – Labor, Health and Safety, Environment, and Business Ethics – and can be used as a pre-audit tool.
CAPABILITIES AND GOALS Goal: Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits conducted annually in areas identified as high- risk by Sedex assessment Mapping our supply chain is an essential part of our responsible sourcing strategy. FDA regulations require that food manufacturers understand how, where, and by whom our products are produced. Utilizing Sedex takes that transparency and traceability one step further by giving our Procurement team deeper insight into our supply chain, providing benchmark standards that help our suppliers improve working conditions, operate responsibly and sustainably, protect their workers, and manage their social and environmental performance. Through self-assessment questionnaires and third-party audits, Sedex assesses suppliers and their activities against four pillars: labor standards, workforce health and safety, environmental practices, and business ethics. Frontier Co-op uses the results of these assessments to improve and enhance our business relationships and to help our suppliers implement better business processes. As more suppliers complete this step, we’re able to gather a macro-level overview of risks by sector and country. This gives us improved visibility into our supply chain and helps us pinpoint areas that might need targeted improvement.
INTEGRATING OUR SUPPLIERS INTO THE SEDEX DATABASE
SEDEX VOLUMES
ALL VOLUMES
SEDEX %
CATEGORY
5,965,519.28
12,231,685.26
49%
FOOD & FLAVORINGS (IN LBS)
214,497,107.30
253,241,715.90
85%
PACKAGING (IN UNITS)
591,698.66
986,846.57
60%
ESSENTIALS (IN LBS)
So far, 108 of our more than 310 suppliers are part of the SEDEX platform. We have prioritized our top products across three categories – food and flavors, essential oils, and packaging – as a starting point to assess risk across our supply chain.
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COMMITMENT TO QUALITY
To ensure the highest quality for our consumers, we set high standards for our products, and have established internal testing processes and capabilities to ensure the integrity of our products. We handle product carefully from receiving through processing and all the way to distribution to guar- antee safe, high-quality products. We have always practiced ingredient transparency, and maintain a steadfast commitment to pro- viding safe, pure products across all of our brands. Our labels clearly and completely reflect the ingredients in the product, and we have zero tolerance for adulterants, fillers, or prohibited ingredients. Labs/audits • Climate controlled storage is used to preserve freshness and chemically active plant constituents. • Microanalysis reveals cellular structure of plants to determine, identify, and prevent adulteration. • Organoleptic testing consists of taste, smell, and sight evaluations to ensure a quality consumer experience and screen out adulterated product. • High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) testing measures active constituent levels. • Microbiological testing detects yeast, mold and bacteria, and pathogens. Quality Assurance (QA) This team of quality professionals are dedicated to food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance. Key responsibilities include adherence to and continuous improvement against industry standards, maintenance of internal audit programs, and maintaining and defining programs related to plant quality. This team also reviews, tests, and evaluates key programs or systems through ongoing review of codes, regulations, and the coordination of operational reviews and reporting. Quality Control (QC) The function of our Quality Control (QC) team is to confirm the fit-for-use of incoming raw materi- als through scientifically valid chemical and physical testing of spices, herbs, and essential oils prior to packaging and sale to the public. While Quality Assurance (QA) is primarily focused on prerequisite programs for assuring that the manufacture of products will result in safe, delicious spices and herbs and wonderful essential oils, QC employs sophisticated analytical instrumentation to measure key quality parameters in determining alignment with internally established expectations of excellence for all Frontier-Co-op products.
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QUALITY AND PURITY
Full ingredient disclosure A key component of our commitment to traceability and transparency is our dedication to quality and purity. At Frontier Co-op, we believe our customers have the right to know what they’re putting in and on their bodies, or using in their homes. We are dedicated to full ingredient disclosure on all our products, but take it a step even further to include: • Species specificity: Unlike many of our competitors, our products are always labeled according to their species as an indicator of quality. For example, our consumers can trust our lavender is 100% Lavendula angustifolia instead of a low-quality alternative like Lavendula x intermedia. • Country of Origin: A key component of transparency is identifying where our products are sourced from, so consumers can make more educated decisions about their purchases. Steam Pasteurization At Frontier Co-op, we do not use ethylene oxide (EtO) to treat or sterilize our products, but instead use a validated steam pasteurization process to ensure all our products meet food safety standards without harsh chemicals or irradiation. We’ve invested in cutting edge food safety infrastructure and quality systems including our own steam pasteurization system to ensure our employees, our communities, and our customers can have total confidence in the high-quality and safety of our products. It’s one of the many ways we’re committed to having a positive impact for our people and our planet.
Food safety Our team has integrated food safety into our processes all the way from product development to source to manufacturing. • Through the use of FoodLogiQ, our QA team audits our suppliers against both our internal standards, as well as any pertinent compedial, regulatory, or industry-specific requirements. • We inspect pre-shipment samples of raw material. In this way, we’re able to rest our raw materials from around the world before it ever arrives in our facilities. These samples are carefully evaluated, along with applicable documentation, for acceptability against our internal specifications. • For years, we’ve maintained an intensive surveillance program for heavy metals in all raw materials. We are committed to providing our consumers with products that meet or exceed industry standards for these types of impurities. • All of our facilities are Safe Quality Food (SQF) certified and our Norway, Iowa facility is Kosher certified. ISO-17025 Certification According to ISO.org , this certification “specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. It covers testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods.” Our QC laboratory is ISO-17025 certified, meaning that consumers can rely on the accuracy of the extensive sampling and testing that we conduct at Frontier Co-op.
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CERTIFICATIONS
Using third party certifications and maintaining current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) are important to us and to our consumers because they ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, encourage responsible manufacturing practices, promote continuous improvement in our process quality, and address food safety and cosmetic requirements. Facility only certifications: • GFSI (SQF Level 2): Norway and North Liberty facilities • ISO 22716: Urbana facility Product claims (on label) certifications: • Organic (QAI): select Simply Organic and Frontier Co-op products • Kosher: select Simply Organic and Frontier Co-op products • GFCO: select Simply Organic products • Fair Trade: select Frontier Co-op products • Non-GMO Project verified: all Simply Organic products, and Frontier Co-op organic products • ANSI 305: select Aura Cacia products
DO WHAT YOU SAY
SAY WHAT YOU DO
PROVE IT
FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS International Food Safety and Quality Network
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND RESEARCH Frontier Co-op is working with researchers at the University of Maryland to study the impact of herbs and spices on a healthy diet and lifestyle. These academic studies seek to identify opportunities to incorporate products from Frontier Co-op’s family of brands into consumers’ dietary routines to realize positive health impacts and potentially reduce long-term medical costs.
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Photos: Amanda Cash, Senior R&D Scientist, working in the co-op’s cosmetic laboratory.
RESPONSIBILITY IN MARKETING ESSENTIAL OILS
At Aura Cacia, we value the safety of our customers above all else. Because of this, we work continuously to promote the safe and responsible use of essential oils. Essential oils are highly concentrated volatile oils that if ingested or used incorrectly can have adverse effects on the user, and potentially be damaging to their health.
We do not advocate for the internal use of any essential oil, and encourage the safe and appropriate dilution of all essential oils for topical application. Marketing Aura Cacia products based on our educational values protects the safety of our consumers and allows for the full beneficial experience of aromatherapy with- out the inherent risks of unsafe practices. Our Marketing and Training teams keep our website updates with extensive resources, including blogs, recipes, and classes, to educate consumers about the safe usage and dilution of essential oils for topical application, diffusion, and home care. Find more information about Aura Cacia products, responsible sourcing, and safe usage on our website.
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Farmers preparing to harvest tea leaves in India.
RESILIENCE
WELL EARTH Well Earth, Frontier Co-op’s impact sourcing program, ensures the long-term sustainability of our supply chain by investing in our partners and their communities at origin to improve their social and environmental impact. We empower our suppliers, helping them increase their market share through investment in value-added processes, and retain more of that value to support their businesses and their communities. Through Well Earth, Frontier Co-op provides funding, technical expertise, and industry knowledge to maximize opportunities for these partners.
Goal: $5 million invested in supply chain development through Well Earth and externally-funded programs by FY26 We aim to ensure strength and resilience of our supply chain around the world through investment projects, including those that support: Community building • Addressing community-specific needs including education, medical and basic needs support Business building • Value-added processes including steam pasteurization and grinding • Agricultural practices – organic transition Climate resiliency • Crop diversification including comestible crops
COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Starting in 2018, Frontier Co-op partnered with the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Cooperative Development Program (CDP) to implement the Safe Processing in Cooperative Enterprise (SPICE) project. The goal of SPICE is to drive value-added processes and opportunities back to source to ultimately increase economic opportunities in these communities, and create value that can be reinvested in both community and business building activities. This project started with our partners in Sri Lanka, and has since grown to include two other projects in India and Guatemala. All three projects (highlighted on the next page) are slated to be complete in 2024.
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CDP PROJECT #1 — SRI LANKA Sri Lanka is renowned for black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. However, the lack of a skilled workforce, awareness of US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements, and poor food safety infrastructure has had a detrimental impact on Sri Lanka’s processing capacity. Despite the country’s production of high quality raw materials, many in the industry are moving to other origins, which further degrades farmer livelihoods and overall economic security and opportunity. To address these challenges, Frontier Co-op, USAID, and local cooperative SOFA (the Small Organic Farmers Association), are working together to:
• Improve SOFA’s internal cooperative management • Train workers in skilled and semi-skilled processing • Train agricultural extension workers and farmers in good agricultural practices (GAP) • Equip a processing facility for FSMA-compliant production
A farmer in Sri Lanka stands next to his harvest.
CDP PROJECT #2 — INDIA The future of agricultural farming communities is growing increasingly uncertain as farmers – especially in women-led communities like the tea region of Kumaon, India – face economic challenges, an ongoing pandemic, and the hard realities of climate change that degrade the soil, priming it for landslides during monsoon season. To address this growing vulnerability, Frontier Co-op is establishing a tea processing facility in Kumaon in partner- ship with Young Mountain Tea. Local farmers will hold an ownership stake in the new venture, which will not only provide economic benefits to the farmers and their communities, but also help ensure they're more resilient to the impacts of climate change. CDP PROJECT #3 — GUATEMALA Similar to Sri Lanka, Guatemala’s comparative advantage with high value export spice crops, as well as its ability to add value through processing, has been impacted by FSMA. FEDECOVERA has been Frontier Co-op’s supply partner since 2007. As an established second-level cooperative federation, FEDECOVERA aggregates organic cardamom, allspice, and turmeric from its member cooperatives and performs primary processing and export services. However, FEDECOVERA historically has not had the capacity to perform secondary processing of its members’ product (i.e.,pasteurization, grinding, and sterile handling), instead selling to international customers who perform the value-adding processes in the US and Europe. To address these challenges, Frontier Co-op, USAID, and FEDECOVERA are working together to:
Women who harvest tea leaves in northern India carry baskets on their backs to hold the leaves.
• Improve facility infrastructure • Support GFSI certification
• Build capacity of the team to implement pasteurization, grinding, and sterile handling processes • Provide training, in Spanish, on high-level food safety principles, good manufacturing practices, contamination control, and pest management
Workers in Coban, Guatemala sort dried cardamom pods as they pass by on a conveyor belt.
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Farmers outside of Cobán, Guatemala hold a basket of freshly-harvested cardamom pods.
Frontier Co-op CEO Tony Bedard, and VP of Marketing Laura Kuykendall celebrate our recent projects with long-time sourcing partner, FEDECOVERA.
FEDECOVERA farmer waters his seedlings.
COOPERATION AMONG CO-OPS: FEDECOVERA
A Long-Term Partnership FEDECOVERA has been a Frontier Co-op supplier since 2007. As an established “second level” cooperative, FEDECOVERA aggregates organic cardamom, allspice, and turmeric, among other crops, from its 42 “first level” member cooperatives in the surrounding communities. These smaller co-ops are made up of 120 organized small-scale growers’ groups representing nearly 100,000 indigenous Mayans from the Q’eqchi’ and Poqomchi ethnicities. The support services FEDECOVERA provides to their cooperative members are free of charge, utilizing the co-op’s profits, and include health, education, financial, legal, agricultural, and other social and technical services. Over our 15-year partnership, Frontier Co-op has contributed more than $376,000 to business-building and community-building projects with FEDECOVERA, including the introduction of organic turmeric to their farmers as an additional high-demand premium crop, investing in infrastructure and process improvements, and helping address community needs including a lack of dental and general medicine resources in their rural farming villages.
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RECENT PROJECTS Business Building – Steam Pasteurization Project with USAID CDP FEDECOVERA provides important business support services to their cooperative members, including handling primary raw material processing and export. However, they historically hadn’t had the knowledge or capability to perform secondary processing of their co-op members’ product such as steam pasteurization, grinding, and sterile handling. Instead, the product was sold to international customers who then provided the value-added work in their own countries. In 2021, Frontier Co-op set out to transition this value addition back to source to benefit FEDECOVERA’s cooperative members. Frontier Co-op and FEDECOVERA, with the support from USAID’s Cooperative Development Program, co-invested capital into facility infrastructure and built capacity of the team that allowed for the implementation of pasteurization, grinding, and sterile handling processes. This ensured that FEDECOVERA’s members had greater market access, and that the additional value was kept at source. To support these facility improvements, an international expert from Mexico visit- ed the team to lead training, in Spanish, on high-level food safety principles, good manufacturing practices, contamination control, and pest management. This training further supports FEDECOVERA’s commitments to comply with internationally recognized food safety requirements. Community Building – Expansion of Medical Services Beyond helping address their business needs, FEDECOVERA provides vital social support services to their member co-ops including health, education, and financial services. Because of this, they’re an important partner in helping Frontier Co-op assess gaps in social services, and identify needs as they arise in these communities. Ensuring we’re helping meet the needs of not only the businesses in this region, but also the people in those communities is a vital component of our mission to nourish people and planet. In 2015, Frontier Co-op provided a $33,000 grant to FEDECOVERA to open a brick-and-mortar dental clinic in Coban. To date, that clinic has seen more than 6,800 individual visits, and despite some setbacks during the pandemic has grown to the point where they were able to hire a full time clinic manager last year. In 2021, Frontier Co-op deepened that investment by providing an additional $80,000 to fund a mobile clinic that will take field days out to the co-ops and help provide accessible, free preventative care to the surrounding rural farming communities. In October 2022, our CEO Tony Bedard, and VP of Marketing Laura Kuykendall traveled to Guatemala to visit our partners at FEDECOVERA, and celebrate the first trips taken by the mobile clinic into the farming communities.
This mobile medical and dental clinic visits the cooperatives in the rural communities surrounding Coban, Guatemala.
Workers sort dried cardamom pods as they pass by on a conveyor belt.
A woman is treated by a doctor in the mobile medical clinic.
Workers in FEDECOVERA’s processing facility in Coban, Guatemala.
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