Buyers are responsible for managing their suppliers in order to deliver on company commitments, to encourage good practices throughout the supply base and to identify and address non-compliances. In practical terms, this can be done via a set of supplier engagement mechanisms as well as targeted upstream interventions and/or investments that help drive change towards responsible production.

This element aims to:

·       Provide buyers of beef and other cattle products with a framework and approach for engaging their suppliers to drive compliance with commitments.

·       Demonstrate how buyers can engage beyond their supply chains in order to support sectoral or collaborative initiatives as well as landscape/jurisdictional initiatives. 

·       Showcase available tools and processes in Brazil as well as practical examples of company action as well as wider sectoral and landscape initiatives. 

The supplier engagement process

1.       IDENTIFY YOUR SUPPLIERS FOR ENGAGEMENT

As detailed in the BN02 Understanding the Supply Chain, identifying a company’s direct and indirect suppliers and the relationships between them enables companies to define the best engagement strategy.

2.       DETERMINE PRIORITIES

Understanding the risks associated with supply chain actors informs the prioritisation of interventions. Publicly available data and current work by industry peers can help with this. See more in the BN02B Risk Assessment.

3.       TAKE ACTION

A gap analysis of suppliers enables buyers to determine where to allocate efforts to address risk and improve supplier performance. Sectoral jurisdictional initiatives can help to address systemic challenges and move suppliers towards responsible production practices.

More information is available in the briefing note below - BN03 Engage within and beyond supply chain to implement responsible sourcing commitments for beef