Agriculture & Food
A growing interest in wellness and health, the farm-to-table movement, tainted food crises, and a complex global supply chain means trusted assessments and monitoring cannot be overstated.
Portfolio of services
The agriculture and food sector has a long history of certification schemes and responsible sourcing programs. This includes many well-known schemes relating to tea, coffee, cocoa, cotton, bananas, sugar, palm oil and many more. ELEVATE teams support these efforts through the provision of responsible sourcing assessments, worker surveys as well as robust analytics that support with remediation and program effectiveness.
ELEVATE is an approved Certifying Body (CB) for the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI). These EFI compliance audits are executed by experienced, local, bilingual, and well-trained field staff who have a clear understanding of region-specific trends and challenges.
“Our team has conducted approximately 500 agriculture audits across a number of continents and commodities including coffee, tea and fresh produce. This work presents unique challenges around migrant and seasonal workers as well as pay, overtime and the need to be vigilant around child labor.” – Meghan Quinlan, Vice President, Food and Agriculture
Migrant worker risks
The agriculture sector has long relied on migrant and seasonal labour. This applies in both developing countries as well as developed markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and others. Workers in these supply chains are additionally vulnerable to labour exploitation due to their temporary nature, a lack of government protections and reduced regulatory ability in rural areas.
These factors continue to motivate new legislation (such as the United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act 2015) and expectations for responsible brands and retailers. ELEVATE assessment teams on-the-ground can support you to identify and manage these unique migrant worker risks at individual farms and in manufacturing facilities globally.