Requirement baskets
We are constantly striving to make certificate management easier for our customers throughout their entire supply chains. One of the solutions we are launching with this goal in early 2022 is the use of requirement baskets. Fred Vahlkamp, founder of Certifeye, explains what this feature is all about.
The Certifeye network is becoming increasingly valuable as more suppliers, growers, trading companies and buyers join the platform. This leads to better insights and simplifies sustainable decisions. Based on their own administration, parties in the chain can easily identify and choose the partners that meet the right requirements.
These requirements are often assessed through certification. According to Fred, this has led to a complete mosaic of certificates, codes and audit methodologies. “We are close to a situation where one could speak of a certificate overflow, with different standards sometimes serving the same purpose,” he adds. “Companies want to demonstrate their partnership as well as transparency, for example, regarding social and environmental practices”. This compliance can be achieved through various certificates with overlapping criteria, which can lead to an increased workload of assessing and comparing the available documents.
To streamline the process of comparing certificates, Certifeye will soon introduce the Requirement baskets. This feature allows a requester to preselect the standards needed to prove compliance within a specific area or scope. “Baskets enable an ‘and/or’ construction, where you can request a combination of various certificates at once. Depending on the conditions set in the basket, the grower immediately knows whether the available certificates meet the requirements,” Fred explains.
Therefore, the retailers have the freedom to put together their own selection of comparable certificates. In addition, there are baskets of standards that are already known in the market, created by organizations that are active in the field of sustainability. “There are several advocacy groups that already have established their own sets of requirements. This type of pre-made combinations will also be present in Certifeye by default.” That way, it will be easier for all customers to use the new feature and save time on their administrational tasks. Especially now that questionnaires can be included in the system, with environmental footprint results and lab analyses coming soon, a complete administration can be created. As the owner of the documents, you will always remain at the helm and decide what you share with whom!
The advantages of the basket are also clear for primary producers. The steps necessary to demonstrate that they satisfy their customers’ demands are minimal. “In such a way, communication between the grower and the trading company becomes much more efficient. We continue to believe that a grower should not spend more than half an hour a year to ensure that all their customers are updated,” Fred concludes.