Sustainable agricultural sourcing

In the long term, we aim to buy all our agricultural raw materials from sustainable sources, so that:

• farmers and farm workers can obtain an income they can live on and improve their living conditions

• we can ensure security of supply – at a time when agricultural production is under threat from climate change, water scarcity and unsustainable farming practices

• water availability and quality are protected and enhanced

• nature and biodiversity are protected and enhanced.

Our approach

To maximise our impact, we focus our efforts on the crops we buy in biggest volumes, such as tea, tomatoes, peas and sunflower oil.

Progress in 2008

Working in partnership with an external advisory board and expert agronomists, we have developed Good Agricultural Practice Guidelines based on 11 indicators including water, energy, pesticide use, biodiversity, social capital and animal welfare.

Sustainable tea

Lipton has committed to source the tea for all its tea bags from Rainforest Alliance Certified^TM farms by 2015. Although the pledge was only announced in 2007, more than 30 estates have already achieved this certification, including Unilever's own estates in Kenya and Tanzania, and third-party suppliers in India and Argentina. By the end of 2008, around 50% of Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea sold in Western Europe came from Rainforest Alliance Certified^TM farms.

Sustainable palm oil

In 2008 we pledged to source all our palm oil from certified sustainable sources by 2015. This announcement built on a long-established commitment to sustainable palm oil: for instance, in 2004 we became a founder of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). In November, we reached a milestone when we bought a part of the first consignment of RSPO-certified palm oil.

Cage-free eggs

In 2008 our Hellmann's, Amora and Calve brands pledged to source only cage-free eggs for products sold in Western Europe, removing over 1.7 million hens from battery cages. The target is now expected to be reached a year earlier than anticipated –  by the end of 2009. Central and Eastern Europe and North America will follow suit from 2010.

Working with smallholder farmers

Smallholder farmers, around 100,000 of whom form part of our agricultural supply chain, are often on uncertain incomes, and struggle to access capital and training. Working in partnership with Governments and NGOs, we are making a real difference to their lives.

Training smallholder tea farmers in Kenya

Working jointly with the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), the UK's Department for International Development and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, Unilever has helped train smallholder tea farmers in Kenya to boost yields and cut pesticide use. The three-year project concluded in December 2008, showing farmers that improved techniques can boost profits by 5-15%.

Creating new sources of supply

Allanblackia trees, which produce a seed oil ideal for use in our spreads, tend to grow in the wild in Central, East and West Africa, where they are harvested by local people on a subsistence basis. Working in partnership with non-profit groups and local authorities, we invested in a programme to plant new trees on small rural farms, boosting local incomes and creating a new source of supply for our business.

Supplier assessments

We are asking our third-party suppliers of fruit and vegetables to complete self-assessments against our Guidelines. We have also implemented a new online tool to help our supply managers assess sustainability-related risks and opportunities when making sourcing decisions.