Grupo SLC

"SLC Agrícola participates in a project to promote sustainability in the European soybean industrySLC Agrícola’s Parnaíba and Planeste Farms in Maranhão state were carefully selected to supply soybeans to Lidl, Germany and Europe’s main food retailer. The so-called “Lidl Soybean Initiative” project aims to use only suppliers that deliver, sustainable and transgenic-free soybeans for the manufacture of food products.This means the retailer contributes to the gradual increase in the pursuit of this type of soybean in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Lidl plans to obtain a total of 147,000 metric tons of certified soybeans for these three countries. Under the project, these certifications mean SLC Agrícola receives a higher price.The initiative is being run in partnership with the ProTerra Foundation, which certifies only transgenic-free soybeans across the supply chain. The Parnaíba and Planeste Farms already have ProTerra and RTRS (Round Table on Responsible Soy) certification." On the Lidl website, "Lidl Germany participates in the cross-border “Lidl Soy Initiative”. In the context of this, the discounter aims to only use sustainably produced and non-GMO soy as feed for cattle and pigs in the long term (...). The company plans on certifying the total amount of soy needed (147 000 tons) in 3 countries. For this, Lidl is working with Not-for-Profit organisation ProTerra and supports selected farms in Brazil over the next 3 years with a 7 digit amount. This should enable the farmers to transition to more sustainable, non-GMO soy and increase the available supply in Europe. In the first year the soy beans will be exclusively derived from two carefully chosen farms from SLC Agricola, one of the biggest Brazilian agricultural producers, in Maranhao."

"All suppliers are homologated according toour internal guidelines before establishing thecontract. In this stage, we check documentationsand legal compliance of the companies and, forspecific cases, we assess practices of health,safety and environment of employees."

In their 2018 report, SLC Agricola report that they have 114,695 hectares certified under the RTRS, and 29,545 hectares certified under ProTerra. In their 2019 RTRS report, they indicate that they have a total of 230,089.11 hectares of soy production, of which 101,227 hectares are RTRS-certified. In 2019 they produced 432,401 tons of RTRS-certified soy.

SLC Agricola publishes a map of its production farms, including areas of production and coordinates for each farm.

"The FEMAS audit for soybean certification took place in December at the Palmares (Bahia state-BA), Paladino (BA), Planeste (Maranhão state-MA) and Parnaíba (MA) Farms. The properties were visited by the certification body, found to be in compliance with the European standard and recommended for certification. FEMAS (Feed Materials Assurance Scheme) is a standard introduced to SLC Agrícola by its client Cargill due to the high demands of the European supply chain. FEMAS aims to assure the safety of all the ingredients used to produce animal feed, whether main processing products or by-products, regardless of their country of origin. Certification by the scheme guarantees compliance with Brazilian legislation and European Union import requirements."