At The Pantaleon Group, Responsible Development is the name we give our integral business model which drives operational efficiency while placing at its core responsibility and commitment towards our environment and human capital. The Responsible Sourcing program reflects this commitment as we seek to support our suppliers and create traceability throughout the value chain. This initiative also drives “Decent Work and Economic Growth” in line with UN SDG 8 by promoting respect, improving labor conditions, and social inclusion through training small farmers and raising the socio-economic conditions of local communities.
In 2014, Pantaleon launched its Responsible Sourcing program in Guatemala, through which it historically has provided guidance and support to over 90% of sugarcane suppliers in Guatemala and 48% of suppliers in Nicaragua. Recognizing the importance of working together with our sugarcane suppliers to ensure the value chain, we aim to support and train small, medium, and large sugarcane suppliers to improve their compliance with labor, health and occupational safety, environmental, and human rights issues. Our goal is to bring them closer to international standards of sustainable sugarcane production, benefiting not only our suppliers but also contributing to the sustainable progress of the countries where we operate.
The program originated in Guatemala through the “Integrarse Network” of CentraRSE in 2014, with the purpose of allowing large companies to provide opportunities to SME suppliers to incorporate CSR practices that enable them to scale competitively and contribute to the country’s development. The program aimed to benefit 4 SMEs annually who received an external consultancy over 5 months. This scheme was implemented from 2014 to 2017, benefiting 12 suppliers and obtaining sponsorship from the IDB during the first year of implementation.
In 2017, a subregional project for the sugar value chain emerged through the Embassy of the Netherlands and various organizations in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The project focused on strengthening the business capacities of SMEs in the sugar sector value chain, incorporating CSR and responsible development as a business strategy to improve their competitiveness, directly benefiting 42 suppliers from Guatemala (28), Honduras (8), and Nicaragua (6). Through the program, we also developed a tool based on compliance with the national legislation of each country , the “Sustainability Requirements Guide for the Central American Sugar Sector.” In this program, we managed to include 100% of the sugarcane suppliers of Pantaleon and Concepción, covering 28 SMEs representing the 47 farms that supplied us at that time. We conducted a compliance review in labor practices and health and occupational safety, carrying out information surveys and documentary validation.
In 2018, together with CentraRSE and an external advisor, we developed a comprehensive support program to monitor 32 of our sugarcane suppliers. In this program, we developed action and verification plans, supporting our suppliers with external support to close gaps and make improvements in the field. We also generated an Operating Manual for the compliance of Basic Legal Requirements, so that all our suppliers, regardless of whether they were in the program or not, had a step-by-step guide on how to ensure compliance. This manual is updated annually and covers five essential sections: Labor Legislation Compliance, Occupational Health
and Safety Legislation Compliance, Environmental Legislation Compliance, CSR Guidelines, and Compliance with the Pantaleon Code of Ethics. Additionally, we developed a Code of Ethics for our suppliers, which defines our standards and vision in this particular relationship.
In 2019, we decided to hire an external firm to provide specialized advice to a group of strategic suppliers each year. Recognizing the importance of extending the benefits of the program to other regions, that same year, we replicated the program at the Monte Rosa Mill in Nicaragua, in collaboration with the Western Sugar Cane Producers Association (APRICO). Based on the best practices learned, the new program scheme begins with the selection of suppliers, to whom the purpose of the program is presented: incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices to promote their competitive growth and improve the living conditions of their employees and families, contributing to the country’s development. Upon accepting their participation, a field visit is scheduled to generate a baseline. Suppliers receive technical support from specialists on key compliance indicators and jointly generate a short, medium, and long-term action plan based on their specific objectives and capacities. This has allowed them to prioritize and develop a tailored plan with each supplier. Specialists accompany suppliers in implementing improvements in their operations and support them with training on any existing gaps. To finish the program, a field visit is conducted to assess the impact and monitor the progress of each of them.
Through the program, we are proud to say that we have significantly improved the working and occupational safety conditions for our suppliers´ workers. By the end of our program in 2023, we managed to assess and update 100% of the suppliers that have taken part in the program since 2019, while simultaneously working with additional cohort in each country. To date in Nicaragua, we have covered 48% of the third-party cane and 75% in Guatemala with excellent results.