Community Involvement
Cargill seeks to maintain a partnership relationship with its suppliers, in order to contribute to their financial stability and stimulate the adoption of social and environmental practices appropriate for the challenge of becoming the leading provider of solutions for agricultural and food sector customers.
Suppliers selected by the Procurement department are included in the supply chain for direct and indirect materials and/or services and undergo a careful selection process that considers aspects such as sustainability, financial status, quality systems, technology, and innovation capacity, among others. Furthermore, the company initiated the Supplier Relationship Management process, resulting in closer ties and benefits for both sides.
The company’s website, along with Revista Cargill, are the main channels adopted to keep partners updated as to its internal actions and commitments. A website is also dedicated to Suppliers Support System (www.ssc-cargill.com.br) ; it is passwordprotected and enables payment information to be obtained.
Contracts signed by Cargill include social-environmental responsibility clauses, such as clauses prohibiting employment of children and slave labor or similar, and mandatory compliance with labor and social security laws. Projects such as On the Right Track and National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor, among others, are promoted among the suppliers. (More details in Relationship with Governments and Society.)
Other specific practices complement this policy. The origination team at the Starches and Sweeteners Business Unit, for example, draws on characteristics such as liquidity, integrity, and complete infrastructure to seek diversification opportunities in the market. The team also carries out analyses of needs and adopts valued and trustworthy solutions to ensure safe and adequate supply of raw materials in each processing unit, and seeks to establish lasting relationships with suppliers. In 2009, the Unit had 258 registered suppliers. The number of suppliers should increase by about 20% in 2010 with the expansion of the corn processing plant in Uberlândia (state of Minas Gerais).
