ThaiBev has launched numerous farmer development campaigns, collaborating with both private and government sectors, in order to support and educate local farmers in practicing sustainable agriculture and in compliance with applicable renowned standards e.g. BonSucro, RSPO, SAI Platform, Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) etc.

The majority of these local farmers are ThaiBev non-tier 1 suppliers who cultivate and supply agricultural commodities to ThaiBev’s tier 1 suppliers. Understanding the challenges local farmers face in adopting sustainable agriculture practice, ThaiBev encourages its tier 1 suppliers to implement similar farmer support programs to ensure that the farmers have sufficient knowledge and resources.

For instance, ThaiBev has worked with farmers to help them solve water shortage problem that occurs during the dry season, improving check dams to increase water storage and deliver water to agricultural areas with greater efficiency. ThaiBev also encourages farmers to practice organic farming and has a network of farmers in 29 provinces.

READ MORE ABOUT OUR FARMER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Malt and Hops are the key agricultural raw materials used in distilling and brewing processes. With the unified sourcing standards we have in place, ThaiBev is able to source barley from various locations while maintaining the highest quality and compliance. Malt and Hops are the key agricultural raw materials used in distilling and brewing processes. ThaiBev encourages and supports malt and hops suppliers to become active members and follow the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI), a global standard for agricultural practices. Most of the suppliers are members of SAI Platform and manage their own farms in accordance with such standard. Those who are not SAI Platform member operate under SEDEX /SMETA and have external verification in place. Non-tier 1 suppliers who supply barley to the malt suppliers who do not have their own farm are SEDEX/SMETA certified as well. Sugar is mainly used in the production of ThaiBev’s non-alcoholic drinks and is locally sourced in Thailand. ThaiBev adheres to BonSucro standard which covers 3 pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic and incorporates these in its sourcing requirement for sugar. In terms of collaboration with its business partners, ThaiBev collaborates with its strategic sugar supplier to launch farmer development program with the objective to promote sustainable sourcing and reduce ESG impacts in agricultural processes.

Aside from BonSucro standard, ThaiBev also accepts ProTerra Foundation standard which addresses similar sustainability issues such as human rights, good agricultural practices, biodiversity conservation, etc. Rice is mainly used in the production of ThaiBev’s product and is locally sourced. ThaiBev engages with the local farmers to properly educate them in adopting sustainable agriculture practice and makes them aware of relevant sustainability issues in the agricultural processes, for instance, water efficiency, soil fertility, organic farming, etc.

Additionally, ThaiBev has implemented a strict pesticide control for rice. It is included as the requirement in its product specification. ThaiBev has systematic process to sample and test the product to ensure food safety. Green tea products contribute majorly to ThaiBev’s Non-alcoholic Beverages product portfolio. The highest quality tea leaves grown via organic farming are being used to produce our green tea products. All of the tea leaves used in ThaiBev’s production of Non-alcoholic Beverages are certified by either the Organic Agriculture Standard issued by Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (Thailand) or UTZ standard (Rainforest Alliance). The requirements in obtaining such certification cover all key essential issues stated in the EU Organic Farming, for instance climate and environment protection, conservation of soil fertility, absence of GMO, etc. ThaiBev also displays the Organic Product label on its green tea products to ensure that its customers can make a well-informed purchasing decision. Palm oil is a key ingredient used in both restaurant business and manufacturing of packaged food. ThaiBev supports large-scale palm oil producers and small-scale farmers in the responsible and efficient production of palm oil and to be certified with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) international standards.
An Essential Part in Achieving Sustainable Supply Chain

Thai Beverage Group (hereafter “ThaiBev”) seeks to deliver a quality end product which answers our consumers’ demand and originates from a sustainable source. It has always been our concern to build a solid and effective supply chain in collaboration with our suppliers. ThaiBev’s Sustainable Agriculture Guideline (hereafter “the Guideline”) shall be our additional requirements for our suppliers in order to ensure that the material we source meet our standards.

We expect our suppliers to share our vision on sustainable agriculture and adopt the same practice to their own supply chain.

The requirements stated hereinafter shall apply to only agricultural raw material suppliers (hereafter “suppliers”). This includes suppliers’ related business entities, for instance, suppliers’ affiliates. Raw materials shall refer to only unprocessed materials.

We expect our raw material suppliers to adopt a sustainable agriculture practice using the approaches stated below.

Suppliers shall protect the natural state of ecosystem, ensuring sustainable use of natural resources and where possible, avoid interfering at all. Suppliers shall not source any agricultural raw materials in high conservation values or legally protected area under any circumstances.

Suppliers shall notify ThaiBev if their raw materials are GMO or contain or derive from GMO ingredients. They must also comply with regulations concerning GMO in countries where they operate. Please refer to ThaiBev’s GMO Guideline for more details on our position on GMO.

Suppliers shall not violate the community’s right to access land and natural resources and shall respect the established rights of indigenous/tribal people to their land as well as their free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). Furthermore, we strongly encourage our suppliers to maintain a good relationship with the communities in which they operate, conduct impact assessment of their operations on local community on regular basis, and establish development programs where necessary.

Suppliers shall promote domestic agriculture and minimize pollution from the transportation of raw materials harvested. We encourage our suppliers to provide local farmers, whose raw materials they rely on, with knowledge and support necessary to promote sustainable agriculture and secure long-term supply of raw materials.

Suppliers shall adopt organic farming in their own agricultural operation or promote organic farming practice where applicable. We encourage suppliers to obtain organic farming certification from third-party or comply with organic farming standards established in countries where raw materials are being sourced.

Suppliers shall control and closely monitor the usage of pesticide to prevent any contamination particularly of nearby water sources. Suppliers are obliged to establish a pesticide residue limit for their raw materials. Where in use, pesticides should be applied responsibly in adequate amount required to control the invasion of pests and should be stored properly in a way that they do not produce negative impacts on surrounding communities.

Suppliers shall protect and improve soil fertility, for instance, by conserving soil, rotating crop, and maintaining the balance amount of soil nutrient.

Suppliers shall measure their water consumption and identify opportunities to reduce their water usage where possible. In addition, we urge suppliers to conduct water risk assessment of their operating sites using internationally recognized tools and implement mitigation plan in area where water stress level is found to be significant.

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