Ventura Foods is dedicated to conducting business in a lawful and ethical manner. Doing so sustainably and responsibly requires that we balance the social, environmental and economic benefits and risks of our products.
Suppliers
Suppliers play a key role in our efforts to ensure that we manage our global supply chain in a sustainable way. Our policy is to only work with suppliers who share our commitment to socially responsible and ethical business practices. We expect our suppliers to obey all laws, regulations and other governmental authorities of any country and jurisdiction in which they do business, and to conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner.
Customers and Consumers
As a provider of food products and services, we are committed to food safety and quality, complying with applicable laws, rules and regulations of every jurisdiction in which we operate. We take seriously our commitment to providing safe products that meet our customers and consumers quality requirements.
Standards
Two social responsibility standards that are widely accepted by many organizations are:
- The United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), and
- SA8000 - developed and overseen by Social Accountability International (SAI).
We are developing our ethics and compliance program, endeavoring to remain true to the spirit and intent of these standards, while balancing the social, environmental and economic benefits and risks of our products, and meeting our stakeholders' needs. Many of our stakeholders utilize these standards as the basis for third party audits performed at our locations.
Reporting and Auditing
Various methods for reporting issues of non-compliance are provided to employees, vendors and suppliers, including an anonymous hotline (800-620-7407). The Company also utilizes an internal audit activity in addition to several external audit sources to obtain assurance the ethics and compliance program is functioning appropriately.
We are subject, each year, to multiple external reviews and audits, without findings, confirm our internal findings and disclosures that the Company is in material compliance with the above stated standards. Included below is a brief overview of each standard.
UN Global Compact
The UN Global Compact includes a commitment to human rights, fair labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. The ten principles of the UN Global Compact are:
Human Rights |
1 |
Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and |
2 |
Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. |
Labor Standards |
3 |
Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; |
4 |
The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor; |
5 |
The effective abolition of child labor; and |
6 |
The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. |
Environment |
7 |
Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; |
8 |
Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and |
9 |
Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. |
Anti-Corruption |
10 |
Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. |
SA8000 by Social Accountability International
SA8000 is an auditable certification standard based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child and various International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions. SA8000 covers the following areas of accountability:
- Child labor
- Forced labor
- Health and Safety
- Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining
- Discrimination
- Discipline
- Working hours
- Compensation
- Management systems for Human Resources
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