Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd Modern Slavery Statement for Financial Year 2023

(Covering the period from 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023)

 

INTRODUCTION

This Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd Modern Slavery Statement confirms that we meet the threshold requirements for corporate reporting under the Modern Slavery Act (2015). Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd is incorporated in the UK, supplies goods and services and has an annual turnover that exceeds £36 million.

This Statement is our commitment to ensuring that modern slavery and human trafficking are not occurring in our core operations or supply chains and provides the details required by the Modern Slavery Act (2015).

 

 

ABOUT WESTFALIA FRUIT UK LTD

Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd is part of the Westfalia Fruit Group, which in turn is part of Hans Merensky Holdings. The Westfalia Fruit Group is recognised as being a global leader in growing fresh avocados. Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd sources, ripens, packs and delivers fresh produce from all over the world to supermarkets and wholesale markets across the UK and Europe.

 

 

COMMITMENT

The Westfalia Fruit Group Board of Directors and the UK Senior Management Team accept our responsibility for uncovering, preventing, and eradicating modern slavery and hidden labour exploitation in both our own operations and global supply chains.

 

 

SUPPLY CHAINS

Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd has built long-term relationships with suppliers worldwide. All of our products are sourced from approved, nominated suppliers who have passed a supplier approval verification process and have achieved our ethical requirements. This includes third party ethical accreditation.

 

 

OUR APPROACH

Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd are committed to transparency and collaboration in our efforts to mitigate modern slavery. We build our modern slavery programme using use a range of tools that include policy, due diligence, collaborative programmes, training and dedicated subject matter expertise.

 

 

POLICIES

Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd policies reflect our commitment to ethical business activities in the broadest sense and also specifically address modern slavery and human trafficking. The following policies are in place which further define our stance on modern slavery and human trafficking, Ethical Trading Policy, Human Rights Policy, Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy, Whistleblowing policy, Preventing Hidden Labour Exploitation Policy, Policy on Forced Labour, Responsible Recruitment Policy, Child Labour Policy, Positive Work Policy, and Grievance Procedure.

It is our intention to review this suite of policies during the next financial year and we will report on this activity in our next Modern Slavery Statement.

 

 

DUE DILIGENCE

Our human rights due diligence framework is built on a risk assessment aligned with the Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET) methodology enhanced with an additional materiality perspective provided by commercial and operational data.

The risk assessment for the reporting period allowed us to focus on engagement with our fruit suppliers from medium and high-risk country sources, using third party ethical accreditation, second party assessments and in-country inspections.

We are aware of the potential for human rights issues to arise in supply chains where audit activity has taken place and are building a “Beyond Due Diligence” model in collaboration with other stakeholders that will be operational in the next financial year.

 

 

COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMMES

Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd are members of several collaborative organisations that help us to achieve our goals in combating modern slavery. We are aware that this crime cannot be addressed in isolation by any single business and therefore contribute actively to these programmes with the intention of driving best practice across the industry in which we operate.

During the reporting period Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd were members of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX), Association of Labour Providers (ALP), Stronger Together, Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA) the Spanish Ethical Trade Forum, the Egypt Ethical Trade Forum, third party worker voice programmes, and Board Members of the Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET).

 

 

TRAINING

All employees at Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd receive modern slavery awareness training. Our management team are able to access specific e-learning courses on modern slavery. The UK labour providers that we partner with are members of the Association of Labour Providers (ALP), completing Stronger Together Modern Slavery training, and educating all temporary workers regarding Modern Slavery risks during the registration process.

 

 

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE

As a bedrock of our commitment to disrupting Modern Slavery, we resource a dedicated human rights team under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility. This team of international experts is based in a range of locations (Africa, South America, Europe) and has a diverse set of skills focused on modern slavery and human rights engagement. They work both within our own operations and our supply chains to provide specialist support and engagement.

 

 

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Our Human Rights KPIs are modelled on compliance with the ETI Base Code and allow us to measure the effectiveness of our programme from a broad human rights perspective.

We are aware of the inherent paradox in modern slavery reporting: That successful outcomes cannot be defined as the absence of modern slavery cases nor the presence of such cases. Absence can indicate insufficient scrutiny and lack of appropriate engagement and yet one case of modern slavery is one case too many from a moral perspective.

To this end we commit to addressing modern slavery risks, engaging with vulnerable workers and liaising with stakeholders and enforcement authorities. We acknowledge the risks inherent in our business sector and work to resolve them.

We are not aware of any modern slavery incidents within our operations or supply chains during the reporting period.

 

FUTURE FOCUS

Continue to invest in, and develop, the resources required for our in-country global subject matter expertise programme.

Actively promote modern slavery and hidden labour exploitation training to our global supply chain. Continue to support “Worker Voice” programmes.

Develop a nuanced “Beyond Compliance” programme for investigating modern slavery and supporting those impacted by this crime.

 

This statement has been approved by the Westfalia Fruit UK Ltd Board of Directors, on the 22 of July

2024 and is made in accordance with Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.