SUSTAINABILITY OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN

The main aim of the sustainable management of the Ebro Group is to guarantee the sustainability of its products throughout the entire value chain. The first and principal link in this chain is the production and sourcing of its agricultural and auxiliary raw materials. The Group is acting directly and in two ways with the main players in its supply chain.

1.On the one hand, it is working side by side with growers to promote sustainable agriculture in environmental, economic and social aspects. After joining the SAI Platform in 2015, during 2016 the Ebro Group took another step forward in its commitment to the sustainable production of its agricultural raw materials, particularly rice, by becoming a member of the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP, http://www.sustainablerice.org/ ). The SRP is a multi-stakeholder initiative co-convened by the UN Environment (UNEP) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, http://irri.org/ ), to promote sustainability in the rice sector, especially Asian (http://www.sustainablerice.org/About-Us/ ), paying special attention to smallholders.

In this context, the Ebro Group has begun to use the sustainable crop standards of the SAI and the SRP as qualitative benchmarks in the different initiatives and projects that it has set up to improve the sustainability of growers in its sourcing regions.

2. And on the other, it is controlling the performance of its industrial suppliers in respect of corporate responsibility through internal or external audits and collaborating with them to secure continuous improvement.