Working with partners

The Sustainable Agriculture Steering Group (SASG)

This group comprising Unilever staff is responsible for managing the initiative. Its objective is to promote sustainable supply chains worldwide, focusing on Unilever's long term, sustainable access to key crops.  For member profiles take a look at our People (link to "The People" brochure)

Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Board (SAAB)

Our SAAB is comprises representatives from the WWF, Rainforest Alliance, Pesticide Action Network, and several research institutes.  Members advise on the overall approach of the sustainable agriculture initiative.

Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform

This pre-competitive food industry platform was founded by Unilever, Nestle, Danone and is a forum where food companies can discuss sustainability and share good practice.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Unilever was one of the founders of the global Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) - an industry-led initiative set up in co-operation with the conservation organisation WWF in 2004Unilever's Sustainable Agriculture Director, Jan Kees Vis, is president of the executive board.

Round Table on Responsible Soy

We are members of the Roundtable on Responsible Soy which seeks to establish agreed Principles and Criteria for responsible soya production.  In 2007, the Roundtable created a Criteria Development Group that has started work on the development of a standard for sustainable soy farming.

Sustainable Food Laboratory

The Sustainable Food Lab is an innovative virtual network, focusing on societal change with the ambition to change the global food system over time.

We use these partnerships to benchmark, share best practice and knowledge, and to improve our programme.  As we are recognised as leaders in sustainable agriculture, we were invited to participate in this US initiative.