Coop Denmark has announced plans to increase the proportion of responsibly-produced soy in its private label brands, by tightening requirements.
The new requirements will apply to products containing soy as an ingredient and soy as a feed product.
Products will need to meet one of two criteria: it should be third party certified, or its origin must be approved and geographically verified by the Coop Group.
Key Ingredient
The requirements will apply to items in which soy is the characteristic ingredient, for example soy sauce containing 5% or more soy as an ingredient, and products that contain more than 50% animal ingredients in which soy has been used as feed, including dairy, eggs, meat, and seafood.
The group said that it will accept third party certification from RTRS, Proterra, Danube Soy, or equivalent certifications. These requirements will be reviewed every two years.
Commenting on the initiative, Coop CSR director Signe Frese said: “This is an important and big step towards a more sustainable world. This measure ensures that the soy that we use in our products is produced responsibly and does not contribute to deforestation.”
The new requirements for soy in the group's own-brand products form part of Coop's CSR plan, ‘Time to shop’.
Coop is also part of the Danish Alliance for Responsible Soy, which supports Danish companies in contributing to importing responsibly-produced soy.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Elizabeth Schroeder. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
