Ever since Grassroots Farming started in the summer of 2020 we have been developing a model that allows our supply chain to be independently audited.
It was a founding belief that to have credibility, a third part organisation would need to independently audit what we did.
That's because all around we see claims being made about the environmental status of farms or food, which don't stack up.
We're now pleased to announce that Grassroots Regenerative Certified has been created. This translates our Grassroots Farming Standards into an independently auditable scheme.
So when a farm supplies us, our customers know a third party has checked whether they're meeting our supply-chain standards.
We owe much gratitude to Tim Oliver, former Chairman of the Soil Association Scrutiny Committee for his experience and oversight in refining out Standards.
Likewise to BASIS who carry out our independent audits. BASIS are known and trusted within the agriculture industry as auditing professional standards as well as carrying out physical inspections including storage.
In addition to the BASIS audited Certification, we continue to work with the wonderful team at Farm Carbon Toolkit who carry out carbon foot-printing across all our farms, and Dr Louis Phipps for conducting independent biodiversity surveys.
Data is what sets Grassroots Farming apart. Independently gathered and verified data.
Developing a Certification has been a considerable amount of work. However we recognise that our customers no longer wish to just tell good stories. They're increasingly needing to meet reporting requirements against legal frameworks.
By working with Grassroots they're able to develop robust, verified baselines for key ingredients. And then become part of the journey to transform how their menus and businesses impact the landscapes and communities that supply them.