Supply chain and sourcing

Promoting good — from sourcing to the dinner table.
In this section:

Bringing good to our global supply chain

Our large global supplier base means more opportunity to positively impact health and safety, human rights, business ethics and the planet.
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Our responsibility makes a difference

We use our presence in more than 25 countries to help protect and respect the people and communities that make our mission possible. Global and social responsibility has been a part of our mission since our founding days and has been a consistent source of innovation through the decades.

Through the years, we’ve created a way to identify suppliers at risk for not following our standards for human rights, health and safety, and global responsibility. We call those that’re most at-risk, “Tier 1”, and they help influence how we manage our Suppliers Code of Conduct.

Some of our milestones:

1990s: We were an early adopter of responsible sourcing and developed a program for producing premiums and supplier facilities.

2008: Launched the program in our own locations and co-packer facilities.

2014: Expanded the program to include high-risk locations of our Tier 1 suppliers.

2021: Added more Tier 1 suppliers in North America, while expanding to locations in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Australia.

2023: Piloted the integration of responsible sourcing into the company's formal sourcing bid and supplier award proceess

Quick Facts

How we maintain our standards

Number 1

For suppliers

We require suppliers to follow our Supplier Code of Conduct and we use trustworthy auditors that understand suppliers’ business practices.
Number 2

In our locations

All our manufacturing locations and co-packers regularly do a physical or virtual audit, while also providing corrective action plans.
Number 3

Everyone is accountable

Between our Risk Ownership board and our leadership team, we have a reliable system for reporting issues and resolving issues.

Baking goodness into the whole system

Responsibility is who we are – it is not just an action we take. This belief is baked into our very core and continues to grow as we do.

Some of our recent developments:

  • We hold mandatory training on The Supplier Code of Conduct, which has been translated into five local languages.
  • We’ve moved our Global Responsible Sourcing program in-house for even more involvement.
  • Suppliers are now asked to upload their audits and corrective action plans during the bidding process.
  • We’ve added notes to co-packer scorecards that show on-time delivery, price competitiveness and more.
  • We expanded our program to locations around the world, including Blue Buffalo in our pet category.
  • We hold quarterly education and forums for peers to share sourcing and supplier topics, while bringing more people into the decision-making process.
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