Sustainability Certification Schemes Observatory
In an increasingly competitive market, certifications in the agri-food sector (among others) represent not only an element of guarantee for the consumer, but also an important enhancement tool for companies, especially in foreign trade.
It is a complex and articulated system comprising regulated and voluntary certifications. The first type concerns productions subject to precise regulations laid down by a state or the European Union (such as PDOs and PGIs); the others attest to the environmental, social, economic and governance sustainability of a product, service, process, company/organisation, or even an entire territory, are issued by independent bodies and are based on international standards.
Le sustainability certifications bring undoubted advantages to the organisations that finalise its adoption:
- Distinguish yourself from your competitors, showing a concrete commitment to sustainability.
- Improving corporate reputation, demonstrating responsibility and transparency.
- Accessing new markets, meeting the demands of sustainability-sensitive customers and stakeholders.
- Reducing environmental impact, promoting energy efficiency, emission reduction and resource utilisation.
- Optimising business processes, identifying areas for improvement and implementing more sustainable practices.
For the Geographical Indications, the adoption of sustainability certification schemes in the respective supply chains makes it possible to manifest their natural vocation as true ambassadors of the transition to sustainable food systems and, at the same time, to measure their commitment in this area as well as assess their progress and room for improvement in achieving their goals, thanks to the implementation of a sustainability management system integrated into the business organisation of the IG operators.
In recent years, the market for sustainable certifications has literally exploded, to the point that there is a risk of excessive fragmentation among the many schemes, which are sometimes redundant, if not downright overlapping, in the dimensions of sustainability analysed and in the related indicators adopted.
The selection made below, which does not claim to be exhaustive, is simply intended as a first step in the realisation of a Observatory of Sustainability Certification Schemes which looks primarily at those standards that are widely adopted within the agri-food supply chains (or sometimes specifically developed for this sector), without however omitting some of the more widespread “horizontal” technical standards (ISO/UNI) developed by accredited international bodies to certify specific business/organisational processes (management systems).
Each individual scheme will provide a brief description of the regulatory sources, contents and objectives/goals it aims to achieve in terms of increased sustainability achieved by the organisation that decides to adopt them.