The world’s leading provider of fresh berries, Driscoll’s, was awarded the best Health and Safety Labour Programme globally at the 2019 Sedex Awards, in recognition of the company’s comprehensive approach to labour compliance, which extends beyond farm audits and addresses systemic worker welfare issues.
Driscoll’s labour programme, which complements the company’s focus on prioritising sustainable business practices, is built in partnership with hundreds of independent growers.
They grow and harvest berries sold under the Driscoll’s brand, which ensures the well-being and dignity of each farm worker.
In 2015, Driscoll’s implemented global labour standards representing criteria where laws did not exist, were not consistently enforced, or provided lower protection to workers.
The company continues to use a third-party auditing process to confirm that these standards are adhered to by the family of independent growers.
Ensuring ‘A Stable Future’
“Supply chain actors, along with global and local institutions, must work together to introduce solutions that ensure a stable future for farms and ensure the agriculture industry remains a viable option for both farmers and all workers,” said Candida Barbato, senior workforce manager at Driscoll’s.
As an integral part of developing and managing the labour programme, Barbato accepted the award on behalf of Driscoll’s.
Barbato thanked the team and independent growers for translating a global vision into an everyday reality.
Driscoll’s also works with its network of independent growers to ensure that legally required social security benefits are distributed, even in geographies where industry practices don’t support them.
Driscoll’s collaborates with local government agencies, NGOs and independent growers to increase worker access to education and public services in rural areas, supports registration processes, and educates the local workforce to best access their social security benefits.
The benefits of this programme have reached over 40,000 local workers and their families in Mexico and Morocco to date.
For more information, visit www.driscolls.eu.
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