Sustainable sourcing
At Biscuit International we are fully mindful of the role our products play in the health of our citizens and the environmental balance of the planet. We are committed towards responsible sourcing. We work with customers, suppliers and industry partners to drive change and deliver sustainable growth and value.
Our principles
Transparency and traceability
A sustainable supply of our main packaging materials and ingredients is key to our success. Consumers want to know where their food comes from, and choose brands who have good practices. Since 2016, our products have been guaranteed 100% GMO free. We work with suppliers and farming communities to promote a resilient supply of raw materials, and across the group we are members of various sustainable sourcing programmes.
Responsible business practices from farm to shelf
We take a global approach to reducing our environmental footprint and source ingredients locally wherever possible. 100% of our wheat flour used in our French plants is sourced in France and we are rolling this out for other countries. In line with Worldwide Governance Indicators, we have a banned country list for key raw materials like honey, butter, dairy powder, egg or nuts – this takes into account issues like terrorism, corruption, political stability and human rights violations against workers.
Key achievements
We have been committed to a responsible supply chain approach for several years.
- 100% GMO free since 2016
- 100% of wheat flour for France sourced in France
- 100% UTZ/Rain Forest Alliance or Fairtrade cocoa used in the Netherlands (62% across the group)
- 100% cage-free eggs in Germany and Sweden
- 70% eggs across the group sourced from the German KAT programme
- 96% RSPO certified palm oil group wide
- 100% FSC certified paper and cardboard in France, Germany and Sweden (75% across the group)
Sustainable INGREDIENTS
Cocoa you can count on
All our factories are UTZ/Rain Forest Alliance or Fairtrade certified and have been for years. This means better opportunities for farmers and their families and also more sustainable farming methods. Since 2019 all of the cocoa supplied to our factories in the Netherlands has been certified. In France, our customers have the choice of sustainable cocoa and our share of certified cocoa has increased year on year. We’re working towards 100% sustainable cocoa group wide.
Well-sourced wheat flour
Since 2015 our wheat has been certified by the NFV30-001 standard and in 2019 we decided to create our own, more stringent sustainable wheat flour chain in partnership with our suppliers and customers. 100% of our wheat flour in France is now sourced from this chain. This chain will be independently assessed and we are working towards using only wheat flour from sustainable, certified sources across the group.
Progressive palm oil
All our factories are RSPO certified and have been for years. We are committed to helping to eradicate deforestation and respecting human rights. 96% of the palm oil we use group-wide is certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an association we have been a member of since 2011. Many of our product facilities across Europe use 100% RSPO palm oil and our four newer facilities are moving towards this. When creating new recipes we take sustainability into account, opting for RSPO palm oil versus other uncertified oils.
Ethical eggs
We source 90% of our eggs from cage-free farms. Most of our plants use cage free eggs and, in the Netherlands, 70% are even sourced through the German KAT program, one of the most stringent in the world. This includes additional criteria such as banning the killing of male chicks on farms. The remaining volumes of caged eggs are in Portugal and Poland where we are progressively removing them from our recipes.
Sustainable quality
Certified paper and card
Sustainable sourcing includes the packaging for our end-products (boxes, sleeves, outer cases etc.) and for transport. We only use FSC-certified paper and board for our outer cases in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands and are rolling this out at our other facilities across Europe. As for transportation packaging, recycled paper is always offered to our customers as a default and we are working towards this being the standard.
Principled purchasing
We have a supplier code of conduct in place group wide that ensures wages and working hours meet or exceed national standards at each location. The code of conduct also prevents harassment, discrimination and child labour. Our supplier selection process takes into account ESG criteria. To maintain these high standards Biscuit International’s Quality and Purchasing Departments regularly assess our suppliers alongside their own quality department audits.
