Our Approach
As your key ingredients supplier, we understand the importance of sourcing sustainably. Supplying products from around the world creates complex supply chains as products are moved from grower through to production and on to customers.
Working in partnership, we actively look for suppliers with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) programmes.
Continually reviewing our supply chains and sourcing procedures, we audit our suppliers on a risk-assessed basis to ensure that their operations meet the latest regulations and reflect the most up to date best-practice guidelines.
At Silbury this means working in collaboration with suppliers and customers to reduce our impact on the planet as well as taking action within our own operations. We are a shareholder in the HIT Group, with two of the largest tomato processing plants in Portugal and work closely with HIT to reduce our impact.
We have developed a robust auditing and specification process, aligning our sustainability ambitions closely with our technical experience.
We continue to invest in sustainability, having recruited Rob our first dedicated sustainability manager in 2022. Our aim is to build even stronger relationships with both our customers and suppliers, sharing knowledge and offering more sustainable choices.
People
At the heart of Silbury is the team of passionate colleagues who are the face of our business. This includes colleagues in our own operations both at our Banbury head-office and those based remotely. A healthy culture with regular coaching and 1:1’s encourages colleagues to be themselves and be the best they can be.
Further into our supply chain we work hard to ensure modern slavery and forced labour has no-place in the production of the products we supply.
We use the SEDEX platform to monitor activity within our supply base. When coupled with regular factory audits and long-standing supplier relationships we can be confident in the colleagues that make, move and sell our products.
Security of Supply and Resilience
Many of our high-quality ingredients are sourced from mainland Europe, including Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. Our long-standing supplier partnerships mean that we can deliver transparent supply chains, with multiple logistics options. Our commercial partners, HIT group, who operate two of the largest tomato processing plants in Portugal are working towards reducing their carbon emissions with an agreed SBTi target to limit global warming to 1.5 C. It’s these types of relationships allow us to provide detailed information for our customers to better understand their impact on both planet and people. We transparently share information via SEDEX and are keen to engage with all our customers on their own commitments and collaborations
Deforestation
Awareness of the human impact on our rainforests continues to grow, with customers wanting to know more about how their food is sourced. Deforestation and poor land management practices are contributing to a changing climate and a loss of biodiversity.
At Silbury our approach is to work closely with supply partners that share our commitment to sustainability. We are advocates for RSPO palm oil, becoming a certified supplier in 2011. We’re also signatories to The Sustainable Coconut Charter.
To learn more about the facts and myths of deforestation, please click below and take a few minutes to watch this video released by WWF: Click to view . For more information about WWF please visit: https://www.wwf.org.uk/.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - (RSPO)
Silbury recognises that palm oil is the world’s leading vegetable oil in terms of production volume and consumption. Millions of people rely on palm oil to support their livelihoods. As the world’s population approaches 9 billion by 2050 demand for edible oil will continue to grow. Palm oil is the world’s highest yielding oil crop and uses less land per tonne of oil produced than any other vegetable oil. It is vital that we understand the environmental and social impact of palm oil production and play our part in the global effort to promote sustainable palm oil products.
Silbury recognises RSPO as the primary global sustainability standard for all palm oil products. We became a member in 2010 and achieved certification in 2011. We now supply palm oil through each of the RSPO’s certified supply chain options.
At Silbury we are fully compliant with our shared responsibility requirements as detailed in our Sustainable Palm Oil Policy.
This can also be viewed on our MyRSPO profile www.rspo.co.uk.
We are committed to providing our customers with the information they require to feel confident in sourcing palm and palm kernel oil products which have been sustainably and ethically sourced. We also participate in EFECA and UK RSPO events and consultations to further awareness of the issues involved.
We work hard to encourage our stakeholders to buy and use RSPO certified ingredients and submit ourselves to regular and rigorous RSPO audits. Our IP oil from Colombia can be traced back to each individual plantation. 100% direct traceability to the Farm (Daabon).
We are resolutely committed to promoting and encouraging the sustainable production of palm oil and our ultimate goal is to move to 100% supply chain traceability.
To view the RSPO Annual Progress Report - UK Roundtable on Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil and the Joint UK Roundtable Meeting Report on Sustainable Soya and Palm oil please see below .
Sedex
Silbury is an active member of Sedex – a global, non-profit membership organisation, and the world’s largest collaborative platform for sharing responsible sourcing data on supply chains.
Sedex provides us with an informative data exchange enabling us to work closely with our suppliers, sharing information and driving improvements.
By using Sedex along with regular site audits we can deliver trusted and secure supply chains.
Sustainable Coconut Charter
In March 2022, Silbury signed the coconut industry’s first global Sustainable Coconut Charter; an industry initiative with the objective of setting a global benchmark for sustainable coconut.
Established in 2019 with support from USAID Green Invest Asia, the Charter is a voluntary framework launched by private sector industry leaders and signatories AAK, Barry Callebaut, Unilever, Nestle, FrieslandCampina, Harmless Harvest Thailand and JDE Peet’s.
As a leading food ingredients supplier, Silbury has more than 35 years' experience of supplying food manufacturers, major retailers, high street chains and food service businesses across the UK, Europe and beyond. Coconut oil is a key ingredient in the company’s product portfolio, and we are committed to integrating the Charter’s principles of social, economic and social responsibility into our operations.
We are proud to be part of this industry development and congratulate all partners that have signed the Charter to date. For more information about the charter and how organisations or individuals can contribute, please visit Sustainable Coconut Charter
Global G.A.P
100% of our Portuguese tomato growers are Global G.A.P certified. This is the European Retailers standard for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which encourages the adoption of commercially viable farm assurance schemes that promote sustainable agriculture and the minimization of agro-chemical inputs. www.globalgap.org
20% of these growers are also GRASP - The GLOBAL G.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice. It is a voluntary, farm-level social/labor management tool for global supply chains, to be used in combination with Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA). The HIT group are working closely with the growers and the company’s agronomists to achieve 100% GRASP certification in the future.
