PACT STANDARD, our new responsible sourcing tool
(version française ici)
We are proud to announce the launch of the innovative PACT STANDARD, our verified responsible sourcing instrument designed to create traceable, transparent, and sustainable supply chains for cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and tropical ingredients.
Building on 175 years of experience, Touton has conceived the PACT STANDARD to proactively address the specific social, environmental, and economic challenges of tropical commodity value chains. This novel standard is a testament to the group’s commitment to sustainability and its vision of the Positive Agri Culture in a rapidly evolving agri-food sector.
The PACT STANDARD is the result of over 20 years of learning and testing customised, grassroots solutions to responsibly source a wide array of products across tropical-producing countries, ranging from cocoa beans to green arabica and robusta coffee, vanilla or cinnamon.
Joseph LARROSE, Deputy Managing Director, Touton group said:
“PACT STANDARD is the instrument that allows us to efficiently operationalise our sustainability vision, the Positive Agri Culture by Touton or PACT, into our sourcing activities. A vision rooted in the deep understanding, mutual respect, and enduring trust with producers.
We understand and manage supply chains. Every year, over 100 000 producers engage with our sustainability programmes across various countries and products. I am proud of the collaborative effort that has culminated in PACT, reflecting our shared aspirations and hands-on experience.”
Acting as a true link between growers and processors, the combined expertise of Touton’s Trading, Sustainability, Monitoring & Evaluation teams, and sourcing partners across 15 producing countries originated PACT as a solid framework to generate a lasting positive impact on both farming communities and consumers.
With over 120+ built-in verification points, the PACT framework aligns with multiple certification criteria and is compliant with European and international regulatory requirements. PACT STANDARD-based programmes are audited annually by an independent third party and recognised by the Global Coffee Platform (GCP) as equivalent to the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code, 2nd party assurance.
Built on three core pillars and one cross-cutting pillar, each addressing specific areas of intervention to deliver impact at every level, PACT STANDARD offers a human-centric approach and bespoke programmes based on the know-how of our 200+ dedicated staff:
- Collaborative systems: To establish systems that proficiently manage risks and responsibilities to ensure traceability and transparency throughout the supply chain.
- Inclusive Growth: To generate added value and equal opportunities by facilitating access to financial, structural and knowledge resources.
- Smart Ecosystems: To build climate-smart farming ecosystems that safeguard forests, biodiversity, and efficiently manage natural resources.
- Social Positive: To foster empowerment and well-being among producers and communities.
PACT STANDARD’s stepwise and scalable approach: PLANT, GROW and NURTURE.
For each supply chain, a dedicated programme is crafted to address both producers’ and industrial players’ needs in their responsible sourcing strategies, based on their ambition and maturity levels. From the foundation of a new programme (PLANT) to its scale-up (GROW) and sustained maturity (NURTURE), PACT offers an agile, dependable standard for sustainability excellence.
For coffee supply chains, the PACT continuous improvement approach is bound to a 3-year cycle to ensure access to market for coffee cultivated by farmers committed to the standard.
Audrey LAGAUCHE, Director Cocoa Sustainability, Touton group commented:
“The PACT STANDARD launch is a pivotal moment for our company and the cocoa producers we partner with. This standardised approach will allow us to fully capitalise on our capacities to implement even more impactful programmes across both existing and new origins. It is not just about growing cocoa but about nurturing a legacy of sustainable and shared prosperity.”
Thomas DELBAR, Director Coffee & Ingredients Sustainability, Touton group added:
“Deploying the PACT STANDARD enables our coffee, vanilla and spices sustainability teams to better accompany each producer by offering comprehensive solutions, through the delivery of coherent and ambitious practices.
We are proud to have received the recognition of PACT’s equivalence with the Coffee SR code by the Global Coffee Platform. It reinforces the assurance for producers, roasters and consumers that our standard offers an adequate, robust, and reliable framework to build the next-generation coffee supply chains.”
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