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Somerfield, the UK’s fifth largest supermarket chain, is to set up a system to store information gathered in ethical checks on its suppliers.
Somerfield began assessing the practices of more than 600 first-tier own-brand suppliers and up to 40 other direct suppliers 18 months ago and has now covered the companies producing about 20 per cent of its goods. However, the sheer size of the task demands better organization.
The FTSE 250 company has therefore bought – at an undisclosed cost – software called Rameses to replace a system that is largely paper-based. It hopes to have the technology fully operational within nine months. The new package will create a system to store data on ethical standards among suppliers as well as information on food safety and quality assurance. Stephen Ridge, Somerfield’s technical solutions director, said: ‘We are looking at how to hold the information in a structured way.’
The monitoring is intended to ensure that suppliers appoint trained people to improve standards right through the supply chain. So far the company has applied its monitoring system to fruit and vegetable suppliers and will assess the rest of its product range in the coming months.
Ridge said that because of the work involved and the data it generates the company will take a long time to organize its ethical monitoring as effectively as its quality assurance system, which took ten years to develop.
The company has not stopped trading with suppliers that fail to meet its ethical standards, but has witnessed a speedy improvement in suppliers that were not up to scratch. However, new suppliers that fail to meet the criteria are eliminated.
In November Somerfield hired its first head of CSR, Nicola Ellen. Ellen said the company’s policy in this area had five main strands – community, environment, health and safety, product integrity, and assurance and shareholder relations. ‘I’ve been assessing each of these areas and making recommendations, with a view to producing a report and targets,’ she said. In July the company will produce a more detailed CSR report than previously, alongside its annual report.
A new issue that Somerfield is seeking to address is the effect of the UK’s Gangmasters Licensing Act on its trading. The new law cracks down on businesses that exploit casual workers, mainly in the agricultural sector.
Somerfield began assessing the practices of more than 600 first-tier own-brand suppliers and up to 40 other direct suppliers 18 months ago and has now covered the companies producing about 20 per cent of its goods. However, the sheer size of the task demands better organization.
The FTSE 250 company has therefore bought – at an undisclosed cost – software called Rameses to replace a system that is largely paper-based. It hopes to have the technology fully operational within nine months. The new package will create a system to store data on ethical standards among suppliers as well as information on food safety and quality assurance. Stephen Ridge, Somerfield’s technical solutions director, said: ‘We are looking at how to hold the information in a structured way.’
The monitoring is intended to ensure that suppliers appoint trained people to improve standards right through the supply chain. So far the company has applied its monitoring system to fruit and vegetable suppliers and will assess the rest of its product range in the coming months.
Ridge said that because of the work involved and the data it generates the company will take a long time to organize its ethical monitoring as effectively as its quality assurance system, which took ten years to develop.
The company has not stopped trading with suppliers that fail to meet its ethical standards, but has witnessed a speedy improvement in suppliers that were not up to scratch. However, new suppliers that fail to meet the criteria are eliminated.
In November Somerfield hired its first head of CSR, Nicola Ellen. Ellen said the company’s policy in this area had five main strands – community, environment, health and safety, product integrity, and assurance and shareholder relations. ‘I’ve been assessing each of these areas and making recommendations, with a view to producing a report and targets,’ she said. In July the company will produce a more detailed CSR report than previously, alongside its annual report.
A new issue that Somerfield is seeking to address is the effect of the UK’s Gangmasters Licensing Act on its trading. The new law cracks down on businesses that exploit casual workers, mainly in the agricultural sector.
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