Intersnack collaborates with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) to ensure fair working conditions in the countries of origin of our raw materials. 85% of our suppliers are assessed according to ETI criteria. Up until now we have assessed the majority of our total purchased raw materials volume sourced from suppliers outside the EU.  Furthermore, we have established a Code of Conduct for all our suppliers that is based on the ETI standard.

Wherever we use palm oil in our products, we use only RSPO certified palm oil. It supports plantations that have been successfully audited in accordance with the provisions of the “Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil” (RSPO). As a member of the RSPO, Intersnack is only using palmoil according to the Book and Claim* system.

Compliance with social and ethical standards and the improvement of working and living conditions in origin countries is a challenge we cannot meet on our own. That is why we join up with various relevant stakeholder groups such as the Ethical Trading Initiative, and work as an active member of the African Cashew Alliance (ACi/ACA www.africancashewalliance.com) and the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil).

In connection with the ongoing RSPO assignment, we have so far reached the status of "Mass Balance".

As a partner to NGOs and GOs, we run several projects in origin countries with the objective of improving working and living conditions of our cashew and peanut suppliers and pre-suppliers.

• Tanzanian Fair Trade cashew cooperative resulting in improved income of 8 communities.
• African cashew project resulting in improved income of 150.000 farmers.
• Bolivian peanut project resulting in improved living standards of 4.500 farmers.

One-third of all cashew nuts come from Africa. Most African cashew farmers live in poverty due to the primitive agricultural system and processes. As a partner, Intersnack supports the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GIZ (the German foreign aid organisation www.giz.de) in the endeavour to improve the livelihood of 150.000 cashew farmers in the West African countries of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Benin and in Mozambique. A key objective of the project is to enable the farmers to increase their annual salary by at least $100. Furthermore, the project will create 5.500 jobs in cashew processing.

We support local farmers in the cultivation of their traditional peanut varieties in order to improve the lives of several thousand farmers and their families for the long term. Furthermore, we are working with GIZ (the Association for International Cooperation) to create  a stable standard of living over the coming three years thereby improving the livelihood of many more families. The aim of the project consists of imparting knowledge of new technologies and skills to the farmers thus safeguarding local peanut varieties which are in danger of extinction.