Purchase Supplier Code of Conduct

It is the policy of our company to conduct our business with the highest level of integrity and ethics, and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. These key principles guide our thought process, decisions, and approach. All our employees are required to affirm their commitment to these principles. We view our suppliers as partners in fulfilling our commitment to the abovementioned principles to our customers and communities we serve.

For purposes of this Supplier Code of Conduct (“the Code”), a supplier means any direct or indirect vendor, broker, consultant, or other service provider to our company and its affiliates and subsidiaries. This Code sets forth the principles and ethical standards that we expect all our suppliers to work toward achieving throughout the course of our business relationship. Suppliers who knowingly violate laws or have repeated problems conforming to these principles may not receive our business. In addition to the Code, each supplier agrees to comply with our policies contained on this web page.

Legal Compliance

We expect each supplier to conduct its business in full compliance with our mutual customer’s requirements, any and all applicable federal, state, provincial, and local laws; and any regulations in the locations in which they operate and where their products are ultimately sold.

Human Rights

We are committed to observing fair labor practices and to treating everyone with dignity and respect. Our company relies upon human rights definitions as set forth by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/. We expect our suppliers to make the same commitments in their businesses by having controls in place that:

Prohibit discrimination, harassment, forced labor, human trafficking, and child labor.
Ensure compliance with applicable wage, hour, and benefits laws.
Verify the employment eligibility of their employees so as to not violate these provisions.
Respect the right of employees to freely associate.

Health and Safety

We are committed to conducting business in a way that provides a safe and healthy work environment for our employees. We expect our suppliers to operate in a manner that:

Complies with all applicable health and safety laws, regulations, and standards.
Takes necessary steps to protect workers from workplace accidents, illnesses, and injuries.

Product Safety and Quality

We are dedicated to providing our customers with quality safe food products. We expect our suppliers to comply with government food safety requirements and product specifications at all times. Suppliers are expected to have policies and procedures in place to manage the safety and quality of the products they provide, from development to delivery.

Animal Well-Being

We believe in the humane treatment of animals. We require that our suppliers comply with applicable laws and regulations of the countries, states, and localities in which they operate. We expect our suppliers to use humane procedures and sound animal husbandry practices to prevent the mistreatment of animals. We also expect our suppliers to adhere to published industry standards and regulatory requirements within their respective processing or manufacturing areas.

Environment and Sustainability

As good stewards, we strive to conduct business in a responsible and sustainable manner. We believe our social, environmental, and economic success will continue if we do the right thing with respect to people, the planet, and profit. We seek to conduct business with suppliers who share our commitment to stewardship and establish environmental policies and practices to manage, monitor, and reduce their impact on the environment.

Confidentiality

Suppliers with access to confidential information from or about our company should not disclose such information to any other person without our prior written consent. Confidential information includes, but is not limited to:

Product specifications, recipe formulations, cost and pricing.
Customer identification and information.
Employee identification and information.

Privacy

When suppliers handle personal and confidential information about our employees or customers, such as home addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates, or medical information, procedures must be in place to ensure that the confidential information is protected against unauthorized disclosure and theft. If a supplier becomes aware of an actual or possible unauthorized disclosure of our company or employee information, it must be reported immediately.

Business Ethics

We are committed to operating our business with integrity, respect, accountability, and honor. We expect our suppliers to conduct business in accordance with the highest ethical standards and to have controls in place that prohibit and detect the misuse of company assets, corruption, bribery, conflict of interest, improper gifts, fraud, extortion, and embezzlement. All suppliers’ business dealings should be fair, legal, and honest.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Suppliers’ employees may report suspected violations of this Code to a company manager. All reports will be treated as confidential and upon request may remain anonymous where permitted by law.

Verification of Supplier Compliance

Our company seeks to conduct its business in accordance with the principles defined in this Code, and engage suppliers who proactively seek to do the same. We reserve the right to request information and/or audit a supplier’s facilities with the expectation that suppliers will correct any identified deficiencies. Suppliers should inform our company of any departure from this Code, including significant regulatory noncompliance or news event that may jeopardize public or governmental views of our company or our legal compliance.