Frontier Co-op 2022 Biennial CSR Report

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

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