A sustainable agriculture
Promote responsible purchasing and, in conjunction with our raw materials suppliers, codevelop a more sustainable sourcing with greater added value
Hand in hand with farmers for sustainable milk production
Keen to support sustainable milk production, to that end Savencia has since 2011 applied a deliberate policy accompanied by a dedicated approach. Our geographical proximity to our milk producers (97% of the milk collected in France is sourced within 70km of our cheese plants and 70% within 30km) allows us to provide them personalized support designed to help them reduce their environmental footprint whilst improving their profitability. We thus offer them a complete farm diagnosis performed by independent experts on the basis of ten main indicators and accompanied by proposals for corrective action. The conclusions of the survey help producers define their priorities and choose the initiatives they wish to implement based on their specific needs.
Animal welfare at the heart of our concerns
Convinced of the importance of animal welfare, Savencia Fromage & Dairy has pursued an improvement process alongside our dairy farm partners for over ten years. Our comprehensive policy is based on the five fundamental freedoms of animal welfare developed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), in the United Kingdom. Since 2018, we have relied on an animal welfare assessment tool developed in partnership with the national research institute for agriculture, food and the environment (INRAE).
In 2021, to reinforce our commitments and communicate about it in a wider scale, Savencia has published its Animal Welfare Charter. To develop our animal welfare strategy, Savencia sought out the expertise of the international NGO Compassion In World Farming (CIWF), a specialist in farm animal welfare.
Furthermore, Groupe Savencia is committed to purchase only cage-free eggs and egg products by the end of 2022 in the limit of actual market availability, and in any case by 2025 at the latest. This commitment applies to all its subsidiaries.
Download our Savencia Fromage & Dairy charter for Animal Welfare
Valrhona, ever on the front line alongside its cocoa producers
Within its Live Long approach, Valrhona strives to preserve aromatic cocoa varieties by supporting communities of producers with the shared aim of co-constructing the future. With its Cocoa Forest project in the Dominican Republic, Valrhona has the ambition of developing agroforestry models capable of improving the resilience of rural communities, diversifying producers’ revenues, increasing farm productivity and preserving the environment. In 2018, a range of different crops were seeded with the aim of determining, over the long term, the most effective solutions. To be continued!
Did you know ?
Rogue Creamery, organic and B Corp
The American artisan family cheese company, Rogue Creamery is specialized in the manufacture of organic blue cheese. Rogue Creamery is also the first certified B corp in Oregon for its highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
Ecovadis distinguishes Elle & Vire for its responsible purchasing policy
In matters of responsible purchasing, Savencia is as demanding with its subsidiaries as it is with its suppliers. Since 2010, the Group’s suppliers have been required to sign a “Sustainable and solidary purchasing” charter. For our part, we are committed to developing in-house responsible purchasing policies based on a separate dedicated charter. To measure progress, our subsidiaries’ overall societal performance is regularly assessed by the independent evaluation agency Ecovadis. In 2019, Elle & Vire was awarded GOLD status for its CSR performance, reaching the top 4% of companies evaluated within the dairy product manufacturing segment and the top 2% for its responsible purchasing.
