A deforestation-free soy initiative supported by Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose has delivered its first 42,000 tonnes of verified DCF (deforestation and conversion-free) soy from Brazil into the supply chain.
The initiative, which is funded by £9.5 million worth of green bonds from three of the Big Four supermarkets, is part of the Responsible Commodities Facility incentive.
Supermarkets have previously come under scrutiny for deforestation links within their supply chains, including Tesco, which had used soy suppliers associated with removing trees in the Amazon.
“We’ve been driving industry action on tackling deforestation for a number of years, including playing a leading role in the formation of the UK Soy Manifesto,” said Tesco CEO Ken Murphy.
“We’ve also made a commitment that by 2025 we will only source soy from whole areas verified as deforestation-free. To help us meet this goal it’s vital we provide practical, financial support to farmers in Brazil committed to the production of zero deforestation soy and the conservation of native vegetation,” he continued.
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The conversion-free soy was delivered from 32 farms in the Cerrado region of Brazil. The project conserved over 8,000 hectares of native vegetation, according to the programme’s annual report.
Farmers involved in the programme committed to not converting the remaining vegetation in their farms and adhering to a number of other social and environmental requirements.
Sainsburys CEO Simon Roberts said it was “vital” that supermarkets ” protect and restore forests and ecosystems such as the Cerrado in Brazil” if they were to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
“It’s why we are proud to join forces with others to help fund the Responsible Commodities Facility, investing in the sustainable production of soy, using green finance to reward farmers for protecting wildlife and biodiversity in the Cerrado. I encourage businesses to get involved and join us in supporting the RCF,” he added.
Waitrose executive director James Bailey also appealed to food sector businesses and financial investors to join the “extremely important initiative”.
He said Waitrose is: “committed to doing [its] part to protect and restore nature”. He added that the upmarket grocer has “set a bold commitment to source all key raw materials responsibly by 2025, including deforestation and conversion-free soy”.
All funds invested by the supermarkets were paid to participating farmers, who all successfully harvested their crop, with the environmental obligations and impacts monitored by Sustainable Investment Management and BV Rio and independently verified by Earth Daily Agro.
According to the WWF almost 80% of soy is used to feed livestock for meat or dairy and production of the legume has grown almost 15 times since the 1950s.
