Dairy Farmers of Canada has received the international recognition from Unilever for its commitments towards sustainable milk production practices. The recognition means Unilever concluded that 100% of milk produced in Canada is sustainably sourced in accordance with their Sustainable Agriculture Code.
Unilever is one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies and produces and sells around 400 brands in more than 190 countries to billions of consumers. In 2010, Unilever launched the Sustainable Agriculture Code, which has become a major tool in sustainable sourcing programs. The Code, revised in 2017, is a collection of good practices, which aim to codify important aspects of sustainability in farming and to apply them to the supply chain.
DFC has achieved equivalency to Unilever’s Sustainable Agriculture Code after comparing their code’s standard to the way milk is produced in Canada, by considering provincial environmental regulations and labour laws and the national supply management system, as well as the commitments made and being carried out through proAction®, DFC’s robust quality assurance program.
“Unilever’s recognition is an acknowledgment of Canadian dairy farmers’ commitment to responsible stewardship of our animals and the environment, and to high-quality, safe, and nutritious food for consumers,” said Pierre Lampron, DFC President. “Collectively, we wouldn’t have been able to obtain this international recognition without the hard work of farmers to implement a robust, credible and ambitious program like proAction,” he concluded.
“We are delighted that our work with Dairy Farmers of Canada to strengthen action on biodiversity and good environmental practices across the sector means that the dairy produced across more than 10,000 farms meets the standards set in our Sustainable Agriculture Code. This is helping us to make sure that the ice creams we produce in Canada are all being made with sustainable dairy”, said Giulia Stellari, Sustainable Sourcing Director at Unilever.
The announcement has been made at DFC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Saskatoon.