We have mentioned previously that Sinaloa’s growers and exporters have always been characterized by a high sense of social responsibility towards their agricultural laborers and their families. 

Workers from states including Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Sinaloa come to Sinaloa’s valleys during the winter to work in the production of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and green beans that feed North America.  In addition to the benefits required by law, they are provided with decent housing, electricity, daycare, school transportation, adult education, medical clinics, breastfeeding centers, collective dining rooms, sports, and cultural activities, among many other additional benefits to ensure that their working conditions are as appropriate as possible.  More than by obligation, they do it by the will and responsibility in which these growers constantly seek to offer the best conditions for their collaborators. However, all this needs to be measured and documented to be formalized. This is precisely what we do with Social Responsibility Certifications.

Social responsibility certifications are initiatives that seek to endorse and defend not only the rights of workers but also those of their environment (the community). This type of certification generates intangible value for companies and all the actors in the production chain of our products (employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, governments, and communities).

Certification is the process, and result, by which an independent agency guarantees that the organization is subject to the norm or standard it intends to obtain.

Social Responsibility Certifications

Once the organization implements the processes involved with social responsibility, which cover everything related to worker health and safety, labor and human rights, environmental protection, compliance with legislation such as the Federal Labor Law regarding the hiring of personnel and the payment of benefits and wages, etc., the organization proceeds to request the certification audit from the organization’s management, the organization proceeds to request the certification audit from an auditing firm that has certified auditors to evaluate the requested certification scheme; an audit date is agreed upon; once the audit date arrives, the auditor appears to conduct a documentary and physical review of the facilities, gathering photographic evidence, interviewing personnel and reviewing documents and records of process implementation. Once the audit is finished, the auditor makes and delivers a report of non-conformities to the organization, which has a period for these to be corrected and evidence of such actions is sent (the process and times depend on the type of certifications to be obtained); once the actions are reviewed and taken as good, the audit process is closed and the certification is authorized for the organization.

Currently, the most popular certifications in the agricultural sector are SMETA, FAIRTRADE, and CEAR.  And they are precisely the most demanded by national and international buyers, including supermarkets, brokers, and food service.  It is worth noting that most of Sinaloa’s growers and exporters already have one of these certifications.