Navigating Sustainable Practices - Ensuring Ethical Supply Chains and Responsible Tuna Sourcing
We believe that, for a Fast-Moving Consumer Goods business like ours, the sustainability of the supply chain is key to the durability of the business model and to the company's ethics.
As an established centennial company, DAP benefits from a heritage of solid values. However, with an internationally renowned brand portfolio, DAP also needs to ensure that its suppliers adhere to its ethical standards and do not engage in unsuitable or illegal activities that could tarnish the company's reputation and that of its brands.
In 2017, DAP implemented a "Supplier Code of Conduct" that all our suppliers should adhere to. You can download it from this link: "Supplier Code of Conduct". From experience, we recognize that some of our suppliers have more demanding Codes of Conduct than our document. Therefore, starting in 2022, our partners have the option to either sign our Supplier Code of Conduct or provide us with a copy of their Internal Code if it aligns with or surpasses our expectations.
In our supply chain, our utmost priority is safety. As we are revamping our main factory(Taiping Manufacturing Master Plan Project), we are constructing the plan of this major renovation through the filters and demands of our ESG ambitions. As far as DAP's direct supply chain is concerned, our Ethics Committee has identified two issues, sensitive to consumers, NGOs and public opinion: Sustainability of tuna supplies and palm oil. These two topics have therefore been put top of the list of our priorities.
Taiping Manufacturing Master Plan
The detail design study of the planned Centralized Fish Processing Plant(CFPP) was much more challenging than we expected. Additional studies were needed to ensure the process flow. Our plan in terms of superficies was correct and eventually we were able to confirm the blueprint, a key element in the preparation of the tender document.
We set up a team of experts to work on processes and specifically a Project Manager to help us coordinate and progress the work during the multiple tests and experiments. A key role of the Project Manager is to ensure effective communication with the architect, "Royal Haskoning DHV".
The HVAC control system for the cold and chill requirement represents a large proportion of the total CFPP investment. We therefore commissioned a consultant to help review proposals and solutions and to ensure we receive the best offer adapted to our needs.
We have entered the tender document negotiation phase and we expect the CFPP project to start after Chinese New Year?2023.
CAPEX is still ongoing, and it will be used in phases following the progress of the refurbishment of one of our existing factories.
Concurrently, the team is already working on the second and third phases of the master plan for Taiping which plans to bring automation, energy saving, better safety and improved wellness four our employees.
Sustainability of Our Tuna Supply
Even though DAP's tuna business represents less than?0.1%?of the yearly world tuna catch, the company is committed to being a brand that stands for quality and acts with responsibility by taking a strong stand for sustainable fish sourcing, compliant fishing, and manufacturing practices.
We do not have a direct relationship with tuna fishing vessels as we work with fish canning factories, which produce our recipes to our specifications, and under our quality control. Our area of influence is in the purchasing specifications we provide to the canned tuna manufacturers.
The use of stringent tuna purchasing specifications that require sustainable fish sourcing is our way of putting pressure on the tuna fishing industry to make progress not only on sustainable tuna fishing but also on fair and compliant labour practices.
Manufacturers who have been selected to produce for DAP must accept our sustainability specifications.
Our sustainability specifications cover three main categories:
(1)?The biomass
According to the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation(https://www.iss-foundation.org/), globally,?65%?of the?23?major commercial tuna stocks are at healthy levels of abundance,?22%?are at an intermediate level, and?13%?are overfished.
DAP only uses tuna species which are not endangered and from biomass that is healthy(not at an intermediate level and not overfished).
Data on the biomass situation is assessed by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), which are intergovernmental organizations dedicated to the sustainable management of fishery resources in international waters. We follow the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission(IOTC/iota.org) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission(WCPFC/www.wcpfc.int) in particular. Most of their data is published by ISSF(International Seafood Sustainability Foundation).
DAP therefore only sources three species of tuna:
Most of our canned tuna is produced using skipjack tuna. The skipjack tuna used by our brands is caught in the Pacific Ocean, in areas assessed by WCPFC as not overfished, but they could come from any other fishing area where skipjack tuna resources are healthy(not overfished) as assessed by RFMOs.
领英推荐
In 2022, 100% of our skipjack tuna was sourced in accordance with this sustainability specification.
DAP uses yellowfin tuna for canned tuna in oil or in water. In some parts of the world, yellowfin tuna is overfished. Our requirement is that yellowfin tuna for our brands is fished from the Western Pacific, which is assessed as not overfished by the WCPFC.
In 2022, 100% of our yellowfin tuna was sourced in accordance with this sustainability specification.
As we may regularly experience several months without any supply from the Western Pacific, the only solution to maintain this sustainability ratio on yellowfin is to reduce the importance of this species in our production.
We have therefore managed, in about?40%?of our supplies, to replace yellowfin by a lesser-known species called Tonggol. In terms of sustainability balance, such a species presents both a benefit and a drawback. On the plus side, Tonggol is a coastal fish caught by local small-scale fisheries. This contributes to the local economy, and this type of tuna is not listed as an endangered species. On the downside, these local species of tuna are not used worldwide by the major industries, therefore there is not official monitoring for their biomass by RFMOs.
These local coastal fisheries are however, fully monitored by the canning factories which uses Tonggol raw material for our production. They have to comply with a lot of criteria and are audited every year. The list of requirements comprises:
Throughout that period, 100% of Tonggol was caught in the Western Pacific.
(2)?The Supplier code of conduct
As explained above, DAP works with suppliers who share the same code of conduct for their factories and who, in turn, make this mandatory for their own suppliers.
(3)?The recommendations
We play our role in encouraging our suppliers to improve catching methods for skipjack and yellowfin tuna in order to limit bycatch(accidental catch of other species).
Most of our tuna is caught by purse seine fishing vessels and a small percentage from pole and line. We do not accept other methods of catching(like long lines) because of an excessive bycatch rate.
Currently, our suppliers are unable to differentiate between the percentage catch of purse seine on free school tuna versus purse seine on FADs since they are mixed in the fishing vessels. We are, however, in constant dialogue with our suppliers who are committed to collecting data and sharing technical information. This should enable us to gain a better understanding of the situation within a short time frame, thereby enhancing our ability to improve our purchasing specifications.
As a company involved in canned fish, we have on numerous occasions taken the opportunity to express our opinion that Marine Reserves and Marine Protection Areas should be enlarged; additionally, well managed quotas for fish caught based on scientific data is an effective tool to manage and to protect fish resources for future generations. We specifically express our support to promote the following areas as Marine Reserves and we pledge not to supply fish from these seas:
(4)?Data monitoring
We have since?2022?implemented an obligation to monitor data for all our tuna production with six distinct categories:
In collaborating more closely with our suppliers, we are therefore able to trace our tuna all the way from the vessels that fished them to the retail stores where they are sold.