Ensuring that our manufacturers and suppliers commit themselves to respecting human rights.
Together with our producers and suppliers, we are committed to ensuring that people in the supply chain can work under fair and humane conditions. We aim to systematically and thoroughly monitor and evaluate these conditions and take action in the event of violations.
What does Colruyt Group mean by human rights?
We endorse a broad definition of human rights. These are fundamental rights for all people, regardless of who you are or where you are. Political, social, cultural, and economic rights as defined in key human rights treaties and international conventions, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As a retailer, we are focusing on 5 key areas:
Reasonable working hours that comply with local laws and international standards
A healthy and safe work environment
The right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, without fear of punishment or discrimination
Prevention of forced labour, slavery, and human trafficking
Prevention of child labour
We selected these themes because—given our current product portfolio—they are where we can make the greatest impact. Consequently, our focus is primarily on the working conditions of employees in food supply chains. The selection was based on analyses, audit results, and the regions in which we operate.
What is the primary focus of our human rights initiatives?
Our objective is to focus on the human rights of workers, farmers, and other employees in the supply chain of the products and services offered by our brands. We pay special attention to principles formulated by recognized organisations that assist companies with human rights issues in the supply chain, such as:
Why are we committed to improving working conditions throughout the supply chain?
We work with numerous producers and suppliers, sometimes in long and complex supply chains involving a large number of employees. This means we can make a real difference for many people, including those in high-risk countries.
We aim to maintain a professional and responsible long-term relationship with all our direct and indirect partners—from farmers and producers to suppliers. In return we expect them to commit to respecting human rights.
Which measures are we implementing to improve working conditions?
Only by setting priorities can we improve conditions in the supply chain step by step. We determine these priorities by assessing:
1. The amfori BSCI Code of Conduct and social audits
We require suppliers of private-label products to sign the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct. BSCI stands for Business Social Compliance Initiative. Suppliers agree to the code and pledge to ensure that the established principles are adhered to within their supply chain.
Compliance monitoring focuses on high-risk countries. These are identified based on the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). These are countries where the protection of human rights is not guaranteed. Monitoring is conducted through social audits by our partners amfori and Sedex. We support our suppliers or products if any irregularities are identified. In cases of flagrant human rights violations or a refusal to improve, we will terminate the partnership.
2. Sustainability certificates
For our own brands, we systematically opt for certification. Quality labels can help address certain social and environmental violations on a large scale. We focus, among other things, on the following products and raw materials.
3. Sector initiatives and supply chain collaborations
In supply chains for raw materials and products where significant human rights challenges arise, we are committed to fostering greater collaboration and increased transparency wherever possible. This can take the form of a sector initiative or an international supply chain partnership.
One example of a sector initiative is Beyond Chocolate, a sector agreement we co-signed in 2018 that aims to sustainably improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers by 2030. Sector initiatives can also take place within national borders, such as our collaboration with Inex to make Boni milk more sustainable.
Through international supply chain projects, we work closely with the various links in the chain to bring the most sustainable product possible to market. It is important that agricultural producers in developing regions are given the tools to improve their own living conditions.
We are also raising the standard of living for farmers in high-risk areas
A living income is a key driver in tackling poverty. It serves as a lever to advance both social and environmental progress in the region. That is why the income generated by international products is a key focus of our supply chain projects. We have established a separate sub-objective to improve the social impact of our activities.
