In Sweden all ICA’s private label coffee is UTZ Certified. The cost of UTZ Certified products includes a premium paid to the growers for investments in social projects, such as life insurance and nursery schools. Since 2013 ICA Sweden has taken part in UTZ Certified’s cocoa initiative, with the result that ICA’s cocoa products can also be UTZ labelled. The first products in 2013 were two kinds of chocolate confectionery.

ICA signs up to local sustainability projects

ICA Sweden is the first Nordic grocery player to have signed an agreement with IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative. IDH is a Dutch organisation working for more sustainable trade through partnerships with companies, state institutions, governments and other stakeholders. The aim is to make a social difference among suppliers in developing countries by being directly involved in and part-funding local sustainability projects. ICA has long worked to assure products and suppliers in high-risk countries using audits and certification schemes, but has had little opportunity to find out what benefit its buying has locally. The partnership makes it possible to see that the money genuinely goes back into the local community where the produce is grown. ICA will now look at which products within ICA’s fruit and vegetable range may be suitable, and will then choose its first projects.

Traceability checks for Moroccan tomatoes

During the year ICA Sweden carried out a traceability check on its largest Moroccan suppliers of tomatoes. This was done in order to ensure that the tomatoes were being grown in Morocco and not in Western Sahara. ICA Sweden follows the recommendations of the Swedish government and the UN to act with great caution where conflict zones are concerned, and has therefore chosen not to buy goods from Western Sahara. The checks focused on whether the code on the packaging, known as the batch code, provided full traceability back to the grower via the packer. ICA visited both tomato growers and packers to see how boxes and pallets are labelled after picking and to follow the flow from delivery to sorting, washing and packing. The check confirmed good traceability throughout the chain.