CJ Selecta certifies partner producers that follow socio-environmental standards in soy production

CJ Selecta took another step in its commitment to producing in a more sustainable way with standards and controls, but this time going beyond its structures and reaching out to soybean producers who are its partners as suppliers of raw materials. Through a globally recognized certification, the company wants to guarantee transparency throughout the production cycle and recognize the good practices of grain suppliers. 

A member of the cooperation framework of the International Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) since 2016, in 2022, the company, which is one of the main manufacturers of soy products in the world, began auditing work on the farms of its soy suppliers. soy with the aim of granting Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) certification. The document certifies that grain production follows correct standards and also guarantees that the soy sold by the properties has a different value compared to non-certified products.

Divided into three stages, the initiative included training, technical qualifications and calls carried out by the team from the consulting company Produzindo Certo in cities in the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás. In total, 96.500 hectares were analyzed, in 46 visits to producers in 12 municipalities .

CJ Selecta's ESG manager, Patricia Sugui, highlights that between the months of May and August, the number of participants in the program increased, which contributed to the high number of visits.

“This certification is a tool that meets our management proposal and sustainable strategy globally recognized by society. It is an important instrument of adding value for customers and suppliers of our company, which is engaged in ESG policy, contributing to and recognizing the good agricultural, social and environmental practices of soybean producers”, highlights Patricia.

The first stage took place in August, in which consultants carried out an audit of the company's entire chain of custody, which encompasses the cycle that goes from production to the arrival of products at ports. At this stage, diagnoses and verifications of the standards and controls for receiving certified soy were carried out, in addition to the dispatch of products originating from physical soy that was also certified.

In September, in the second stage, 17 internal audits took place on soybean producer farms to verify some standard requirements. For 40 hours, labor practices, compliance with legislation, environmental care and good agricultural practices were observed. The third and final stage, in October, covered certification audits, which were carried out in the company's ESG department - the area that manages the entire group of producers to verify compliance with the requirements.

Patrícia highlights that the results of the first group audited were very satisfactory. “In this first audit work, we certified our industrial unit in Araguari, in Minas Gerais, the chain of custody, which comprises the entire production cycle, and nine soybean producer farms”, explains the ESG manager at CJ Selecta.

Sustainable Agenda

Committed to sustainable development throughout its production chain, CJ Selecta has invested in actions and projects that value a responsible stance on ESG issues in its business. A recent example of this commitment is the Sustainability Monitor integrated into the SAP ERP system, which was launched in September.

Responsible for the automatic and systemic blocking of soy suppliers that do not comply with the sustainability policy employed by the company, the technology was designed to reduce possible failures in the control, registration and socio-environmental verification stages.  

This year, the company also launched the Soy Trace application, developed to give customers practical access to documents and information about traceability in production, from origin to shipment of the final product. All of these new features are part of the company's portfolio of sustainable ideas, which aims to achieve 100% traceability of its direct suppliers by 2023 and have 100% of its agricultural areas audited on site by 2025.

The CEO of CJ Selecta, Guilherme Tancredi emphasizes that the objective is to continually reduce negative social and environmental impacts and create positive scenarios throughout the value chain. “CJ Selecta already has the ProTerra certification, which guarantees transparency, socio-environmental responsibility and traceability throughout the entire soy supply chain; and we comply with European regulations for food and feed with the Non-GMO seal, which confirms that our products are free from genetically modified organisms. Now with the company offering RTRS certification, we want to ensure that soy is produced under environmentally correct, socially fair and economically viable conditions, with zero deforestation and zero conversion”, highlights Tancredi.