Overview
Riverford will not accept modern slavery in our supply chain – whilst we cannot be everywhere at all times, Riverford is dedicated to fair employment throughout our supply chain, and actively reducing modern slavery and human trafficking risks. This statement complies with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, summarising our actions for the fiscal year ending April 28th 2024.
Modern slavery affects 49.6 million globally (GSI, 2023). Migration intensifies vulnerability, impacting all sectors. The Asia-Pacific region has the highest regional estimated victims at 29.3 million victims (GSI, 2023). However, the UK retains significant risk of labour exploitation: there were 17,004 potential victims of modern slavery identified in the UK in 2023 (HFJ, 2024).
Our business structure and supply chain
Riverford Organic Farmers is an employee-owned company, growing, packing and delivering organic produce direct to customers’ doorsteps in England and Wales. Most of our products are fresh fruit and veg straight from farms. UK based sourcing represents the majority of our purchases. The rest is sourced from UK farmers and makers, European growers, and growers in Africa, North America and South America. Our supply base is built on long-term relationships: in some cases, we’ve worked with our suppliers for over 20 years.
Our suppliers by region
Our policies
We have developed Riverford’s policies for effective due diligence and the assessment of modern slavery risks based on:
Despite having a largely UK-based supply chain, we also source some products globally. With global sourcing activities come an increased risk of modern slavery in our supply chain. To mitigate this risk, we embed the principles of the above documents and our own stance on ethical food production into our sourcing principles and supplier approval process.
We make sure that our Whistleblowing Policy is available to all Riverford co-owners as part of the induction process, and that our Suppliers uphold the Riverford Supplier Charter. The Whistleblowing Policy provides a safe channel of communication for co-owners to voice concerns about modern slavery or anything else relating to poor business or labour practices at Riverford that may be worrying them. Created in collaboration with suppliers, the Riverford supplier charter sets out what suppliers can expect from their relationship with us, and what we expect of them, including alignment with the principles of the ETI Base Code. This allows us to demonstrate to suppliers how we expect a fair supply chain to work.
Due diligence and risk assessment
Riverford is rare for a business of our size in that we deal directly with the vast majority of our suppliers, avoiding middlemen that disconnect the retailer from the producer. Having direct, long-lasting relationships with a network of small suppliers gives us greater confidence in their production practices and their treatment of staff. However, remaining vigilant against the risks of modern slavery is paramount.
The risk profile of our supply chain, when prevalence of modern slavery metrics around the world are considered (GSI, 2023a), is as follows:
Riverford’s overall supply chain risk profile has improved slightly from the previous year. Our high risk is concentrated in tropical fruit, geographically speaking, in Peru. We have reduced the percentage of high risk (of modern slavery) supply from two countries (Colombia and Peru) to one (Peru) over the past year. Percentage of medium risk suppliers has also dropped from 4 to 2%.
To assess actual and potential risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain, we utilise principles found in the ETI Base Code. We conduct a desk-based risk assessment (covering national, sectoral, regulatory, socioeconomic, and political factors affecting a supplier’s country or region), and use a suite of a suite of modern slavery indicators to assess suppliers during visits.
In our own operations, we have identified the use of labour agencies as a potential risk: it means we don’t have direct relationships with some employees. To prevent exploitation, we only work with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) licensed recruitment agencies, and we regularly audit the agencies we work with to ensure they are licensed by the GLAA, and talk to employees to establish an on-the-ground picture of working conditions.
If risks or incidents of slavery are suspected in our supply chain or our operations, our Slavery Reporting Process will be used:
Checks and visits
Our due diligence processes allow us to scope for country- and sector-specific risks, while a direct working relationship (wherever possible) with suppliers gives us a greater visibility of our supply chain. However, modern slavery is not always obvious; people may go to great lengths to conceal this criminal activity.
Due to the nature of our supply base (a great number of smaller suppliers and family farms), it’s difficult for us to visit 100% of suppliers in a year. Whilst coverage of UK suppliers is of a high frequency (at least annual) and similar with European (mostly annual), those further a field are usually visited at least once every 3 years, with new suppliers visited as standard practice.
While it is easy to see a positive image of labour conditions in our supply chain, we are aware of the hidden nature of modern slavery issues. We will continue to embed modern slavery indicator checks and visits into our procurement and supplier relationships.
Capacity building
We will continue to deliver and revisit relevant training on the risks of modern slavery, with specific focuses for manufacturing and agricultural management roles at Riverford. Over the past year key individuals in Riverford’s procurement team have been training through the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership in sustainable supply chain management. As well as working with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) on building risk assessments. Riverford is rolling out specific training with wider supply chain and technical teams on tackling modern slavery throughout 2025.
As a business that strives to help people find fulfilment, dignity and pride in their work, Riverford will continue to champion fairness in our own operations and supply chain.
This statement has been approved by the Riverford Board of Directors.
Rob Haward, Managing Director
References and Resources
ETI, 2017. Base Code Guidance: Modern Slavery. [online]. ETI:London. Available at: https://www.ethicaltrade.org/resources/base-code-guidance-modern-slavery. Accessed on: 31.08.2023.
ILO, 2022. ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow Up. [online]. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---declaration/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_716594.pdf. Accessed on: 31.08.2023.
UN, 2021. [online] Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Available at: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf. Accessed on: 31.08.2023.
Global Slavery Index, 2023. Global Modern Slavery at a Glance [online]. Available at: https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/map/#mode=data. Accessed on 25.09.2024.
Global Slavery Index, 2023a. Global Slavery Index 2023 Dataset. Available at: https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/downloads/ Accessed on 17.10.2024.
HFJ (Hope for Justice), 2024. UK: Record number of potential victims of modern slavery identified (2023). [online]. Available at: https://hopeforjustice.org/news/uk-record-number-of-potential-victims-of-modern-slavery-identified/ Accessed on 25.09.2024.
