Supplier Engagement Approach
Sugarcane-derived products are our most significant agricultural supply and we work with our suppliers and industry groups to ensure all suppliers achieve certification to the Bonsucro standard (a global multi-stakeholder nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable sugarcane production, processing and trade around the world, covering human rights and labor conditions, biodiversity, environmental, and economic viability of sugarcane producers). As of the end of 2017, 86.3% of our sugarcane-derived products used to make our BACARDÍ rums are sourced from Bonsucro-certified suppliers, well ahead of our original 2017 target of 40%.
At the end of FY18, 88.5% of our global direct spend was linked to Bacardi through Sedex, with more than 50% of those linked audited. 100% of our global point of sale suppliers are Sedex linked to Bacardi, with up-to-date audits. During FY18 we also worked with the Prosecco and Asti Consortiums, and Equalitas (a standard which focuses on the social, environmental and economic pillars of sustainability of the wine sector) to develop a plan to implement their standards for our grape suppliers.
Moving forward we will work to define and implement sustainable agriculture sourcing strategies, with credible third-party certification for additional crops, including our botanicals, agave, and wheat.
Packaging
We are also working with all our board and paper packaging suppliers to ensure they are sustainably certified. As of mid-2018, 90% of our corrugated packaging suppliers are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)/ Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)/ Forestry Sustainable Initiative (FSI) certified. We are working with our individual box and label suppliers on action plans to achieve FSC certification, currently gathering baseline data suppliers. As of mid-2018, 52% of our individual box (board) and 66% of our label (paper) suppliers are certified.
As announced with the launch of the expanded Good Spirited initiative, our long-term global goal to continue to source our materials responsibly encompasses all our key raw materials, paper, and board. In addition, we will work with all new direct or point of sale suppliers to ensure they meet the highest of ethical standards for labor, human rights, and environment and economic issues. We will continue to ensure 100% of our global point of sale suppliers are linked to Bacardi through Sedex and that they have up-to-date audits that detail their compliance to minimum standards.