FairWild Foundation establishes recognition arrangements for the mabagrown® standard
Zurich, May 2022. The FairWild Foundation has developed a new collaboration with Martin Bauer GmbH & Co. KG, a longstanding participant in the FairWild certification scheme.
As part of FairWild’s ongoing efforts to expand supply of certified material for brands and to streamline auditing requirements for collection operations, a recognition arrangement has been put in place for Martin Bauer’s mabagrown® standard, beginning March 2022. This follows a benchmarking and equivalency exercise between mabagrown® (v. 2.0) and the FairWild Standard (v. 2.0), encompassing the associated checklists and indicators. A number of revisions were incorporated to version 3.0 of the mabagrown® standard, ensuring that all key FairWild requirements are now fully covered.
“By incorporating the use of company standards and internal control systems to the FairWild audit and certification system, we are responding to the need of our business stakeholders to increase efficiency and avoid duplication of audit and certification processes. In this case, it also helps us to expand our impact. By working with Martin Bauer to align the mabagrown® requirements with those of the FairWild Standard, we ensure that wild harvesting communities and plant populations across the scope of their mabagrown® operations will benefit.
The FairWild principles and requirements have been robustly upheld throughout this recognition process. We have also learned a great deal from the experience of Martin Bauer, and will be incorporating new insights and innovations into our own FairWild Standard going forward.”
Deborah Vorhies - FairWild Foundation’s CEO.
The newly established recognition arrangements involve the use of the mabagrown® standard in supplier audits, under the supervision of a FairWild-accredited control body. A custom-designed annual system audit will ensure the internal control system is functioning properly, and also assess performance in relation to topics that are implemented at the company group level.
“Participation in the FairWild certification system is very important to us as a company. By developing this recognition agreement, we are able to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability as well as streamline arrangements for our suppliers.
Following this agreement, Martin Bauer GmbH & Co. KG will be able to offer a wider range of FairWild-certified ingredients to our customers, with increased stability of supply – as FairWild-certified ingredients may now be sourced from across our mabagrown® operators, as well as from suppliers with an independently held FairWild certificate.
We welcome enquiries from customers on how we can help meet their sustainable product needs, and invest back to supporting wild harvesting communities through the mabagrown® Wild Collection Fund.”
Linda Pessler - Martin Bauer’s Procurement and Supplier Qualification Manager.
The recognition agreement will be piloted over the next two years, during which time further implementation arrangements will be established, and impacts monitored. Feedback from stakeholders will be welcomed during this period.
“This recognition agreement represents a technical innovation for the FairWild auditing system. We anticipate incorporating the experience to a more general revision of the FairWild audit and certification approach in the near future – opening the possibility for further recognition agreements and group certification processes, as well as streamlining procedures for wild operations who hold their FairWild certificate on an individual basis.”
Elisabeth Rueegg - FairWild’s accreditation coordinator
The recognition agreement is operational from 1st March 2022, and Martin Bauer are able to offer an expanded range of FairWild certified ingredients on this basis. Please get in touch with Martin Bauer to find out more, or email secretariat@fairwild.org with any questions.