Sustainability

Taste in harmony with people and nature

We want to provide people with the most natural, freshest and tastiest fruit and vegetables — in a way that we can be proud of ourselves. That’s easy to say but implementing it in such a way that it meets our high standards involves a lot of work. It starts with selecting suitable growing regions and varieties with great precision and only working with partners who share our values and passion for delicious fruit.In order for this to be more than just pretty words, our corporate strategy is based on various global requirements and international standards.

Sustainable development goals

We are an active member of the Spanish network of the United Nations Global Compact and have been committed to contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2018. In 2011, SanLucar additionally joined the United Nations Global Compact with the commitment to align its organisations with ten principles universally accepted in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and the fight against corruption. The Global Reporting Initiative indicators (GRI) help us to measure the fulfilment of these goals and of our progress in sustainable development. For more information on the activities and the 8 SDGs (2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15 & 17) that SanLucar is committed to, click on the following table.

Zero hunger: We support access to sufficient and healthy food

Ensuring that people in difficult situations have access to nutritious and sufficient food is an important issue for us. In cooperation with the Coordinadora Solidaria association, we provide hot meals and cooking ingredients, at our soup kitchen El Puchero, to families who are in a difficult situation due to the economic crisis.

Good Health and Well-being: Sport, a healthy diet and safety at work contribute to a healthy body and mind.

Preventive measures in the area of health and safety at work are our highest priority at all our branches. Our local experts and company doctors take care of this. Regular training and campaigns to make our employees aware of health and safety issues at the workplace are all part of this. Other than that, projects in the fields of sport and nutrition help to create a healthy lifestyle within and outside of the communities.

Quality education: A culture of learning.

As you can only do extraordinary things when people from different cultures and with different mentalities are able to work together peacefully and complement each other with their different perspectives, we provide all of them the space they need, for them to develop as best as possible.

We already start with the younger ones. We donate school materials to the children in the communities at our fincas in third world countries and award grants. And all employees worldwide are given training according to their needs and wishes, such as language courses and further training measures tailored to them specifically. And in Spain and Germany we offer the dual education system, which allows people to work with us at an office and simultaneously go to university – an ideal way to start out in your dream profession.

Because what was it that John F. Kennedy once said? »There is only one thing in the long run more expensive than education: no education.«

 

Clean water: Water is vital. We see to efficient water consumption and clean drinking water.

Water is life. That’s why we treat it with care and use the most modern growing methods where we can save on water. But not only the amount is important, but also the quality. That’s why we constantly monitor whether our employees around the world have access to clean drinking water.

Decent work: Our values and SanLucar’s ethical code stand for human rights and fair working conditions.

Of the highest priority are, besides fair and timely payment, long-term fair working conditions and adherence to legal specifications. Several certifications help us to monitor the value-added chain for human rights and fair working conditions. Moreover, supporting local distributors and employing regional workers is part of our corporate policy, as is the assistance in employing young people and furthering their opportunities to learn and grow. To attain this, we cooperate with local universities and offer a dual education system.

Reduced inequalities: All humans are equal to us. This can be seen in our projects for disabled people, the weak and marginalised, children and adults.

We see diversity as an opportunity and not as an obstacle. It gives us the possibility to make use of the variety of cultures, languages and different knowledge and the resulting competences. To remain faithful to this motto and to continuously stay on the right track, external auditors are called in to confirm the transparency and implementation of fair working conditions and salaries at our company.


Life on land

As we work closely with nature, we know we always reap what we sow. Keeping ecological systems viable on the long term is of the highest priority to us. And we manage this by recycling our waste, reforesting our farms and saving on CO2 emissions by using solar energy. And wherever our products’ quality preservation allows it, we abstain from the use of plastic. We see that as our contribution to leaving a healthy, beautiful planet to our descendants.

Partnerships for the goals: Behind every strong company lie many even stronger partnerships.

To strengthen the roots of the people at our farms, we work with ministries, universities, NGOs (non-governmental organisations), public institutions and associations. Many good partnerships have come about all over the world in this way — partnerships that bear an abundance of fruit. Our projects concentrate on education, sport and integration of disadvantaged groups such as disabled people or people with a low income. Since 2018 we have SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) by which we are happy to be evaluated. Partnership is a value we live by everywhere. This applies to our in-house collaborations as well as with our growing partners. We only start a collaboration once we’ve met the minimum requirements such as the GLOBALG.A.P. (Good Agricultural Practice) and/or QS-GAP (Quality and Safety) and ratings for social, health, safety and environmental issues at the farms. And of course only when the fruit tastes extraordinarily good and meets the strict criteria of our quality experts. But then, and this is certain, our partnerships are sustainable and lasting.

SanLucar’s auditing system

We have high quality standards — not only for fruit and vegetables, but also for social and environmental factors. That’s why we have developed our in-house auditing system for the areas of governance, trade, production and labour market policies. It’s based on the principles of internationally recognised certifications and guidelines from the environmental and social field. But our own criteria are stricter. The auditing system helps us evaluate our activities geared towards corporate responsibility objectively, as well as to attain comparable conditions on the farms of SanLucar and create concrete action plans.

Our grower profiles

Before we start a relationship with a growing partner, we create a grower profile. Agricultural engineers working for SanLucar are responsible for this, in collaboration with the growing partners’ agricultural engineers. We only start collaboration once they’ve met the minimum requirements (such as the GLOBALG.A.P. and/or QS-GAP) and ratings for social, health, safety and environmental issues.

Sustainably successful

For us, the environment, society and the economy are inextricably linked and must be viewed as a whole. That is why we set ourselves goals that are in harmony with the people and the resources in the growing regions.

We work closely with independent certification bodies to meet strict, internationally recognised certification standards such as SA8000, SIZA, SMETA, GLOBAL G.A.P. and/or GRASP. We are proud that we adhere to these criteria, and we are proud of the quality of our work.

If you have any questions, complaints or suggestions regarding the SA8000 criteria at SanLucar Fruit S.L.U., please contact us or write to SAI (Social Accountability International) (https://sa-intl.org/) or our certification body TÜV Nord (https://www.tuv-nord.com/it/it/home/). We want to continuously improve and welcome suggestions and constructive criticism.