Six founders of the Ethical Charter Implementation Program — Costco Wholesale, Kroger, McDonald’s USA, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart — seek to expand the program by inviting more than 100 of their suppliers to join. In turn, those suppliers now ask growers to join the ECIP online program and assess their labor practices, according to a news release.
ECIP says the recently launched program aims to recognize and strengthen engagement around labor practices in the fresh produce industry without additional audits. ECIP LAB (learn, assess and benchmark) offers participants three channels to engage with the program. ECIP measures an employer’s willingness to engage and improve labor practices rather than testing compliance with a standard, according to the release.
“Amid a labor shortage, strong management systems and responsible practices are an important recruitment and retention tool,” Peter O’Driscoll, executive director of Equitable Food Initiative, one of the implementing organizations for the program, said in the release. “ECIP will be a valuable resource for employers who want to build better workplaces.”
Participating growers explore the management systems required to implement each principle of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices in the learn channel, according to the program.
In the assess channel, growers rank their management systems, which ECIP encourages them to answer honestly, as their responses are not visible to their customers, the release said.
Growers can track progress in strengthening their systems in the benchmark channel, ECIP said.
“What we like about ECIP is that it focuses on continuous improvement while offering many tools and resources for growers to assess their management structures, benchmark their progress and continue to improve over time,” Laura Himes, vice president of global sourcing for Walmart, said in the release.
Related: EFI, Kroger explore the Ethical Charter Implementation Program
ECIP said an annual subscription fee paid by participating buyers, suppliers and growers funds the program: Buyers pay $25,000 per year, suppliers pay between $1,800 and $9,000 depending on their annual sales, and growers pay $200 per year. Founding buyers also committed an additional $100,000 each for the platform’s development, according to the release.
“As a supplier, we are excited to support ECIP as a tool that credibly measures employer engagement and encourages continuous improvement, thereby enhancing our relationships with both our customers and our growers,” Wyatt Maysey, director of sustainability at Taylor Farms, said in the release. “Our hope is that the industry embraces this program as it is an opportunity to help reduce the audit burden already felt by growers.”
ECIP said it will generate a single engagement profile for each grower and supplier, which they can share with as many customers as they choose. More information about the program is available at ethicalcharterprogram.org.
Industry groups published the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices in 2018 to provide a common baseline for accountability and transparency that can be widely understood, accepted and applied across the global produce and floral supply chains, according to the release. In 2020, several major buyers and suppliers came together to develop ECIP as a way to support agricultural employers in implementing the principles of the Ethical Charter.
After a pilot program in 2021, the Walmart Foundation made a $2 million grant in 2022 to help launch and scale ECIP as a self-assessment tool to strengthen labor management systems at the field level, according to the program.
“We believe the Ethical Charter Implementation Program is an important step for the entire industry and reflects our values and mission at NatureSweet,” Fernanda Suarez, the company’s sustainability and social impact director, said in the release. “We are glad to invite our growers to access the relevant resources and information in ECIP LAB and believe it provides a great opportunity to learn and support them in continuous improvement of their practices.”
