SCS' Sustainably Grown® Program Achieves Silver Level Equivalence with SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment Tool

EMERYVILLE, Calif. and BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 19, 2018 – The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform) and SCS Global Services (SCS) are pleased to announce the outcome of a benchmarking effort between SCS’ Sustainably Grown® Certification Program and SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) tool. Sustainably Grown has earned Silver level equivalence to the FSA Version 2.0. This accomplishment means that products certified as Sustainably Grown can also be recognized at FSA silver level and contribute to many SAI Platform members’ sustainable sourcing targets.

SAI Platform created the FSA in 2014 as a tool to assess the level of on-farm sustainability and to benchmark existing standards. The benchmarking process involves scoring against 112 questions as well as a consistency check by a SAI Platform-approved independent expert. The tool is used in 32 countries and available in 19 languages for a variety of food and beverage agricultural ingredients.

“We congratulate SCS on the successful completion of the benchmarking process,” said Joe Rushton, FSA Manager at SAI Platform. “This reflects SCS’ commitment to promoting harmonization and transparency in sustainability schemes and responsible sourcing. Sustainably Grown is one of only a handful of U.S. sustainability initiatives to achieve this level of equivalence.”

“This recognition enables our certified customers to gain added recognition and value for their efforts,” commented Lesley Sykes, Manager of the Sustainably Grown program at SCS. “It made perfect sense to undergo this benchmarking process and partner with SAI Platform since our mutual interest is in increasing transparency and efficiencies in responsible sourcing.”

SCS has certified agricultural operations around the world to the Sustainably Grown standard.  The certification program is accredited by ANSI, aligned with the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP), and recognized by Unilever, the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) under its Sustainability Initiative of Fruit and Vegetables (SIFAV) basket of standards, and major brands as part of their sustainable sourcing policies. Fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, grains, and other crops have been certified in countries on four continents.  ...READ MORE