How do you measure 'sustainably sourced'?Updated 2 months ago

We only source accredited ingredients from the start. We look for a SUSO (sustainably sourced) marking, if it doesn’t have it we don’t buy it or we work with our supplier to achieve the correct accreditations. Case and point was our recent project to source sustainable lemongrass.

Our journey started back in 2019, when we contacted our longtime supplier in Thailand about becoming Certified Organic. As they were already Thai Organic Certified they were initially reluctant about the need for another certification. Upon commitment to cover all costs of the process we were able to bring them onboard for the journey.

The process started with a pre-audit conducted by UEBT in Thailand (UEBT is the standard organisation for UTZ standard for herbs and spices). This was completed in October 2019 and involved checking production sites and farms so we could address any corrective actions that needed to take place. These were minor and allowed us to step in and support quickly with a frame contract and 3 year purchasing guarantee being drawn up and committed to in early 2020.

With a slight delay due to Covid-19, the final audit was completed in 2021 with our first UTZ certified lemongrass arriving in April of that year.

Our Certified Lemongrass lemongrass project has brought a great benefit to us, but also to the supplier. It has helped protect biodiversity in cultivation areas, improving soil health and reducing emissions as a result. Our partnership continues today with further discussions to take place (Covid-19 permitting) later this year.