We Care – the new sustainability standard for the food industry

Together with a number of partners, Kiwa has developed the We Care standard for the implementation and certification of sustainability requirements at company sites and in supply chain management in the food industry. The standard has been published by the FiBL - Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau or Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Germany.

Companies certified according to this new standard act in a holistically sustainable manner along the entire supply chain and work on continuous improvement. To achieve this goal, relevant sustainability aspects are systematically considered.

FiBL is further developing this new standard. Other partners involved are Alnatura, one of the first supermarkets for organic food, and Lebensbaum, an organic retailer of tea, coffee, and spices.

What does the We Care standard mean?

From the cultivation of agricultural products in the origin countries to the domestic supermarket: We Care-certified companies produce food with their partners in a fair and environmentally friendly way. Food companies can be certified under the standard if they:

• import, process or produce food themselves;
• also, or exclusively have food produced by other companies and, if applicable, also distribute their raw materials or finished products as wholesalers or retailers.

The We Care standard is therefore a corporate sustainability standard. This means that the certification process does not audit individual products, but the company's entire management approach.

Kiwa certifies We Care

As an independent certification body, Kiwa ensures that We Care-certified companies fulfil their due diligence obligations along the supply chain and continuously improve them. Together with six other organizations, Kiwa is part of the steering committee in which the standard is continuously developed. At the same time, FiBL monitors the standard. This creates commitment and a new ecological and social quality in the supply chain.

We Care comprises four areas of action: corporate governance, supply chain management, environmental management, and employee responsibility. Passing certification according to this standard certifies that a food company acts socially, sustainably, and fairly, especially in supply chain management according to verifiable criteria.

Read more about Kiwa’s We Care sustainability standard certification service on this page.