Responsible sourcing
Building on our 20 years of experience working with companies at every stage of the supply chain, we have developed practical and effective ways to put responsible sourcing commitments into practice – our ACRES approach.
In order to deliver socially and environmentally responsible sourcing commitments, companies need to understand where the commodities they buy are produced. This is often complex, as there may be many different stages between farmers and the direct supplier.
Our responsible sourcing consultancy
Proforest supports companies through this journey within its ACRES framework: Agricultural Commodity Responsible Production and Sourcing, guiding companies through five steps:
- Strategy and policy
- Understand the supply base
- Plan interventions
- Engage within and beyond supply chains
- Monitor and report
Using this approach, we then help companies to plan the most effective ways to drive change and reward good practice.
We encourage companies to take action both within and beyond their own supply chains. Within their supply chains, they can act both individually and in collaboration with other supply chain companies to engage suppliers and address issues. Beyond their supply chain they can support landscape or sector initiatives in production origins.
We also help companies to increase transparency and accountability by monitoring and reporting on the progress of their suppliers and the production landscapes they source from.
View our services by clicking the steps in the diagram below:
Responsible sourcing & production
- Strategy and policy
Strategy and policy
- Setting company responsible sourcing strategy
- Developing and updating company policies
- Understand the supply base
Understand the supply base
- Supply chain mapping and traceability
- Social and environmental risk assessment and prioritisation
- Plan interventions
Plan interventions
- Developing timebound implementation plans and commodity roadmaps
- Engage within and beyond supply chains
Engage within and beyond supply chains
- Supplier performance assessment, prioritisation and engagement
- Advice and support on certification
- Support for landscape engagement and upstream projects
- Sectoral engagement
- Monitoring and reporting
Monitoring and reporting
- Support with monitoring systems and KPIs
- External progress reporting