Etikk og virksomhet
Abstract of the 2024 Group Sustainability Report to comply with the Norwegian Transparency Act*
Ensuring a sustainable supply chain, not only from an economic but also from a social and environmental point of view is fundamental for Barilla Group and applies to all its legal entities. For this reason, the Group considers essential to establish lasting working relationships with its suppliers, based on dialogue, transparency, and satisfaction of the counterparties. Among the criteria used for the selection of its suppliers, the following represent the key drivers: quality, respect for human rights, and the environment. The Group has over 9,128 suppliers worldwide divided into the following geographical areas**: 42% in Europe; 36% in Italy; 14% in the Americas and 8% in Asia. Each supplier contributes and supports the Group in its activities through the supply of various products and services***, in detail 90.9% supplies indirect material; 3.1% strategic raw materials; 2.6% non-strategic and non-critical raw materials; 2.5% packaging of raw materials; 0.8% are attributable to co-packer services and 0.1% critical raw materials. To responsibly manage the raw materials supply chains and packaging materials, Barilla adopts a Code of Ethics, a Code of Sustainable Agriculture, five Disciplinaries for the Sustainable Cultivation (Decalogue for Sustainable Cultivation of Quality Durum Wheat, Harrys Charter, Mulino Charter, Basil Charter and Wasa Charter), a Policy on Animal Welfare and Principles for Sustainable Packaging. Code of Ethics The Code of Ethics defines the Group's values and principles based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, the International Labor Conventions and Recommendations issued by the ILO (International Labor Organization), the Earth Charter drawn up by the Earth Council and the principles set out in the Global Compact proposed by the UN. As enshrined in its Code of Ethics, the Group respects its customers, suppliers, the environment, and local communities in all its activities and operations, as it is convinced that managing a sustainable business is the foundation for success in short and in the long run. Barilla guarantees workers' freedom of association, recognizes the right to collective bargaining, and is active in safeguarding the rights of its workers and those of its supply chain to counter any practice of child labor and forced labour, especially in the geographical areas most at risk: Africa (for cocoa production), Swaziland and Guatemala (for cane sugar production), and China (for promotional material). In order to mitigate the aforementioned risks, the Group has adopted the following:
- The cocoa suppliers are members of the World Cocoa Foundation and all the processing sites of Barilla's main cocoa supplier in Africa are certified by social audit; Cane sugar suppliers are subject to verification of possession of a specific certification covering aspects relating to child and forced labor;
Suppliers of promotional material are subject to periodic audits in accordance with the Code of Ethics. Barilla also requires its suppliers and partners a conduct in line with the general principles of the Code and the laws of the countries in which Barilla operates, including those relating to child labor and forced labor. The Group reserves the right to take appropriate measures against any supplier who proves to have acted improperly.
The Sustainable Agriculture Code Barilla has defined the Sustainable Agriculture Code (SAC), a set of good practices based on five Core Principles:
1 - Improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the agricultural system
2 - Act with integrity, applying the Barilla Code of Ethics
3 - Seeking food quality and safety
4 - Reduce the impact on the environment
5 - Believing in listening and collaborating for continuous improvement
The Sustainable Agriculture Code takes the form of Barilla Sustainable Farming (BSF), i.e., a program aimed at guaranteeing the correct application of the Code through the use of more efficient and innovative production systems. In this way it is possible to obtain safe and high-quality agricultural products, as well as protecting the environment and the socio-economic conditions of farmers.
Decalogues for sustainable cultivation of raw materials
1. Decalogue for the Sustainable Cultivation of Quality Durum Wheat For several years, Barilla has been carrying out studies of cropping systems that include durum wheat. The study compares various cultivation systems and practices from an environmental, economic, and agronomic point of view through specific sustainability indicators. The results demonstrate that sustainable agriculture practices help to improve crop yields, product quality allowing to increase crop income, and fertilization efficiency for a general greater respect for the environment. The Decalogue, which arises from the results of this study, is a list of guiding principles for farmers who are faced with the complex challenges of modern agriculture.
2. Harrys Charter In France, the Harrys Charter was created in 2018, developed in collaboration with various players in the supply chain, agronomy experts, and certification bodies. The Charter consists of sustainable agriculture principles that the soft wheat supply chain is required to respect. These are 40 agro-ecological rules based on the NF30-001 public standard, which define good practices for the responsible cultivation of wheat in all its phases, taking into account the positive and negative effects deriving from soil cultivation. Harrys has progressively increased the number of farms involved, reaching 620, for around 116,638 tons of purchased soft wheat flour.
3. Mulino Charter The Mulino Charter was created in 2018 to spread sustainable agricultural practices along the soft wheat supply chain mostly in Italy and France. Created in collaboration with WWF Italy, the University of Bologna, and the University of Tuscia, it contains 10 rules designed to ensure ever-increasing product quality, support the work of farming communities and limit the impact on the planet, through the protection of biodiversity (the 3% of the surface of the wheat fields are in fact dedicated to flowers), the reduction of the use of chemical substances, and the protection of pollinating insects. Today, several players of the soft wheat supply chain follow these rules: 1,885 farmers, in addition to dozens of Italian mills, a mill owned by Barilla, hundreds of storage centers scattered throughout the country and international, for 264,414 tons of soft wheat used to produce flour. In 2023, the digital platform "Barilla Farming" was introduced, which promotes more efficient and eco-friendly precision farming methods (DSS). All members of the Mulino Charter must comply with the requirements of the sustainability ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification).
4. Basil Charter Barilla has signed the Basil Charter, which is based on the Basil Production Regulations and includes a set of agronomic, product quality, and supplier relationship rules and recommendations. In detail, the Group is committed on three main areas:
- Procurement of basil from sustainable agriculture: each farmer in the basil supply chain is subjected to specific controls annually, as well as being required to comply with the sustainability criteria of the ISCC PLUS certification system.
- Protection of biodiversity: in order to obtain quality basil, Barilla, must ask farmers to apply practices such as the continuous rotation of crops and the creation of biodiversity areas through which it is possible to increase soil fertility and contain the presence of parasites.
- Enhancement of farming communities: the bonds that have been established with farmers have lasted for years. This allows Barilla to be sure of the quality of the raw materials purchased and allows farmers to plan work with greater security.
Guidelines on Animal Welfare Barilla's commitment to safeguarding the planet and protecting present and future generations also includes animal welfare. Furthermore, except in cases where it is explicitly required by law****, in Barilla we do not evaluate the safety or quality of our products or of our raw materials through animal testing nor do we finance, commission, co-implement or otherwise support this practice, directly or through third parties. We are committed to ensure that our suppliers use alternative methods that can meet regulatory requirement. Moreover, the Group is committed to ensuring that all suppliers of raw materials of animal origin comply not only with legal requirements, but also with the highest animal welfare standards and criteria. In support of this commitment, the Group has drawn up the Barilla Guidelines on Animal Welfare in collaboration with the organization Compassion In World Farming (CIWF). Within the Guidelines, the five freedoms are defined, respect for which is essential to ensure the physical and mental well-being of animals as well as their ability to express species-specific behaviors. The Five Animal Freedoms:
1 - Freedom from hunger and thirst
2 - Freedom to have an appropriate physical environment
3 - Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
4 - Freedom to manifest one's own species-specific behavioral characteristics
5 - Freedom from fear and discomfort
The Guidelines also detail specific standards that farmers in the Barilla supply chains are required to comply with. Compliance with these standards, periodically verified through specific audits, is an integral part of 100% of the contracts with suppliers of eggs, meat and fresh milk all over the world. If the supplier does not comply with the standards, Barilla defines a repayment plan in relation to the seriousness of the case.
Principles for Sustainable Packaging Barilla pays equal attention to the development of increasingly sustainable packaging solutions and, for this reason, over the years it has defined its Principles of Sustainable Packaging. These principles are constantly updated and are in line with available technological innovations, knowledge, and market trends. To date, Barilla defines seven fundamental principles:
1 - Evaluate packaging choices using scientific tools (such as, for example, Life Cycle Assessment - LCA)
2 - Reduce the amount of packaging materials
3 - Use materials from renewable resources that do not compete with the food chain
4 - Use paper and cardboard from responsibly managed forests
5 - Use recyclable packaging and promote recycling technologies
6 - Use recycled materials
7 - Promote reuse models
These Codes and Principles also represent important control tools in order to avoid or minimize the potential risk linked to abusive work practices against the workforce of the value chain (e.g. forced or compulsory labor, child labor) - with particular attention to the sugar and cocoa supply chains, as well as to migrant workers and temporary workers - with possible positive impacts in terms of protection of human rights, as well as on the psycho-physical health of people and the development of children. For Barilla, the management of this risk is implemented, both upstream and downstream, through a structured process of evaluation and selection of its suppliers and the implementation of specific audits to monitor the results achieved. In particular, the definition of specific supplier evaluation and selection criteria is essential for efficient management of supply relationships, using objective, impartial and comparable qualification parameters. Barilla plans to implement a more structured audit process to verify and monitor the performance of suppliers with respect to the principles of "social" sustainability, especially in countries considered to be at greater risk of human rights violations.
*The Norwegian Transparency Act [Lov om virksomheters åpenhet og arbeid med grunnleggende menneskerettigheter og anstendige arbeidsforhold (åpenhetsloven)], in force since 1 July 2022, is a legislation aimed at promoting respect by organizations for fundamental human rights and decent working conditions in relation to the production of goods and the provision of services and guarantees the public access to information on how organizations address these issues. The legislation applies to: (1) large companies domiciled in Norway which supply goods and services and (2) large foreign companies which supply goods and services which are taxable in Norway and which are subject to taxation in Norway under Norwegian law. For further info: Act relating to enterprises' transparency and work on fundamental human rights and decent working conditions (Transparency Act) - Lovdata
**The number of suppliers broken down by geographic area does not coincide with the actual number as the same supplier can supply more legal entities of the Barilla Group worldwide.
***The number of suppliers broken down by type was counted several times in the case of the supply of different types of products and services.
****“Explicitly required by law" means that the only animal testing the Company allows is that which is explicitly required by law or by written requirements having the full force and effect of law by government agencies. An animal test is not “explicitly required by law” if a law or written requirement having the full force and effect of law states that the test is optional or is merely recommended.