3 July, 2018

RTRS welcomes Tesco’s commitment to sustainable sourcing

The Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) welcomes the announcement from Tesco (made on 3rd July 2018) that the company is to help drive an industry-wide transition towards deforestation-free soy in the UK.

Tesco is now committed to achieving zero-net deforestation in their sourcing of agricultural raw materials by 2020. Soy is a priority for the company as it is a key ingredient in many of Tesco’s Top 20 products.

RTRS welcomes initiatives like Tesco’s as part of the continuous improvement markets` aspiration that all the organisations in the soy chain must be involved.

Tesco has been a member of RTRS since 2014. The company joins a number of other retailers in the Roundtable who together shape a response to the many environmental and social challenges that increasing global demand for soy production poses.

Zero deforestation is a critical issue for RTRS; its multi-stakeholder certification scheme guarantees absolute zero-deforestation soy, meaning that no forest areas are cleared or converted for the process of soy production.

Daniel Salter, Responsible Sourcing Manager of Tesco says,

“By Industry, civil society and governments working together, we can still halt global forest loss and safeguard our planet for future generations.”

Marina Born, President of RTRS says,

“Supporting growers and the wider soy supply chain to produce responsible soy to a zero deforestation standard that can be trusted is the key, and RTRS members and growers are already showing that it is possible to produce soy to this standard.”

In 2017 the certified production grew by 29% compared to 2016. 30,000+ producers from Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Mozambique, Paraguay, Uruguay and the U.S. together delivered four million tons of RTRS-certified soy.

Marcelo Visconti, Executive Director of RTRS says,

“As production of responsible soybean steadily increases, RTRS offers a practical and proven route to meeting a strong industry demand for Zero Deforestation sourcing. The urgent challenge now is to drive up demand, so we welcome Tesco’s Zero Deforestation Soy Transition Plan.

“We see this announcement as a huge opportunity to boost growers’ motivation towards the continuous increase in zero deforestation certified RTRS soy uptake”.

The full announcement from Tesco can be read here:
https://www.tescoplc.com/news/blogs/topics/uk-zero-deforestation-soy-transition-plan/

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