Sustainability Standard

All Version 2.0 documents are effective January 1, 2025, and mandatory by March 31, 2025. Please contact us with any questions.

GENERAL

• General Regulations v2.0
• General Regulations (Spanish) v2.0
• Standard Checklist v2.0
• Standard Checklist (Spanish) v2.0
• Audit Guidelines v2.0
• Audit Guidelines (Spanish) v2.0
• Sustainability Standard Group Certification IMS Checklist v2.0

SELF ASSESSMENT

• Sustainability Standard Self-Assessment Excel Checklist v2.0

AUDITOR

• Audit Guidelines v2.0
• Audit Guidelines (Spanish) v2.0
• Question Applicability Matrix v2.0
• Question Applicability Matrix (Spanish) v2.0
• Applicability to Mushrooms: Guidance for Producers and Auditors
• Applicability to Mushrooms: Guidance for Producers and Auditors (Spanish)
• Audit Scope Guidance
• Audit Scope Guidance (Spanish)

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

• Sustainability Standard Sell Sheet v2.0
• Sustainability Standard Sell Sheet (Spanish) v2.0

TRAINING PROGRAM

• Training Center General Requirements v2.0
• Training Center General Requirements (Spanish) v2.0
• Training Center Handbook v2.0
• Training Center Handbook (Spanish) v2.0

All Version 2.0 documents are effective January 1, 2025, and mandatory by March 31, 2025. Please contact us with any questions.

GENERAL

• Certification Body Application (v1.3)
• General Regulations (v1.6)
• General Regulations (Spanish) (v1.5)
• Certification Flowchart (v1.4)
• Desk Review Flowchart (v1.4)
• Certification Process Three-Year Cycle Flowchart (v1.4)
• Standard Checklist (v1.5)
• Standard Checklist (Spanish) (v1.5)
• Audit Guidelines (v1.5)
• Audit Guidelines (Spanish) (v1.5)
• Sustainability Standard Group Certification IMS Checklist (v1.1)
• Individual vs. Group Certification Comparison (v1.1)

SELF ASSESSMENT

• Sustainability Standard Excel Checklist (v1.5)

AUDITOR

• Audit Guidelines
• Question Applicability Matrix
• Auditor Assessment Form: Interactive PDF (v1.0)
• Auditor Assessment Form: Printable PDF (v1.0)

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

• Sustainability Standard Sell Sheet v1.0 (small) 
• Sustainability Standard Sell Sheet v1.0 (large) 
• Sustainability Standard Sell Sheet v1.0 Spanish (small) 
• Sustainability Standard Sell Sheet v1.0 Spanish (large) 
• Press Release 
• Sustainability Standard Video 
• Guidelines for Sustainability Standard Group Certification (v1.2)

TRAINING PROGRAM

• Training Center General Requirements (v1.0)
• Training Center Application

What is the Sustainable Food Group Sustainability Standard^TM?

The Sustainable Food Group Sustainability Standard™ is a comprehensive sustainable agriculture certification prioritizing the needs of growers, food companies and the environment. For growers, it provides a meaningful tool to measure, communicate and improve the adoption of sustainability best practices. For buyers, The Sustainability Standard provides assurance that suppliers are adopting best practices related to sustainable agriculture and allows for tracking performance across the supply chain to pinpoint opportunities for improvement.

Who is involved in the Sustainability Standard?

Sustainable Food Group is the scheme owner. Sustainable Food Group is part of the IPM Institute of North America, a nonprofit with over 20 years of experience in implementing sustainability best practices in agriculture. As experts in supply chain sustainability, Sustainable Food Group develops high impact, science-based programs for food industry leaders like Walmart, Sysco, Frontier Co-op and more. Azzule and Primus Auditing Ops are our partners in the development of the Sustainability Standard. Azzule is an industry leader in data management that created the digital platform for auditing and assessing farms and facilities that participate in the program; Primus Auditing Ops is a leading third-party auditing company that is the first certification body to offer on-site audits for the Standard.

What sets the Sustainability Standard apart from other certifications?

The Sustainability Standard addresses environmental, social and quality best practices for agricultural producers, packers and processors, with a focus on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Self-assessment and certification encourage continuous improvement of sustainability practices, and audits may be combined with food safety audits to streamline the audit process. Additionally, the Sustainability Standard uses a nuanced scoring mechanism in which auditors score each question on a 5-point scale rather than simply pass or fail. This enables more precise scoring and an improved ability to document improvement over time, a key aspect of sustainability.

What are the Sustainability Standard normative documents?

1. Checklist: A list of questions that comprise the Standard, complete with a space to score each question and to write notes.
2. Audit Guidelines: An explanation of the scoring system, glossary of terms, and a list of the question that comprise the Standard, including.
3. General Regulations: Details of the Standard, auditor requirements, certification process, guidance for certification bodies, use of logo and trademark, and more.
4. Internal Management System Checklist for Group Certification: A checklist against which a Group’s Internal Management System is scored.

How long is the audit cycle?

Audits occurs on a three-year cycle. The initial on-site audit occurs as scheduled by the client; 12 months after that, the first desk audit occurs; 24 months after, a second desk audit occurs; and, 36 months after, an on-site recertification audit occurs and the cycle restarts. See the audit process flowcharts in Program Documents for further details.

Do auditors calculate the points received for each question?

No, auditors award a score between 0 and 5 for each question. The Azzule system calculates the total points awarded for each question.

What are Minimum Requirements and how do they work?

Minimum Requirements are questions that an auditee must pass in order to achieve certification. They cover essential sustainable agriculture practices. A “passing” score for most Minimum Requirements is 5/5; for a few questions it is 4/5 (these cases are defined in the Audit Guidelines).

What is a Group?

In the context of the Sustainability Standard, a Group is a self-designated assemblage of farms or facilities and its suppliers whose products and conduct adhere to a set of standards as designated through an Internal Management System (IMS).

What is an Internal Management System?

An Internal Management System (IMS) is a formalized system of documents processes, procedures and responsibilities to achieve outcomes aligned with the Sustainability Standard. Determined by the IMS holder and adhered to by the Group. The IMS is reviewed annually by the Certification Body.

How does an operation achieve certification?

To achieve certification, an operation must comply with all Minimum Requirements and receive a minimum score of 70%.

What does a Group need to do to attain certification?

To attain certification, a Group must do three things: 1) all audited operations must meet all Minimum Requirements of the Sustainability Standard, including the questions specifically for Group Certification, 2) The average score of all operations in the Group, including farm and facility operations, must be 70% or higher and 3) the IMS for the Group must pass all Minimum Requirements of the IMS Checklist.

Can auditors award a score for a question that is different than the score options outlined in the Audit Guidelines?

For some questions, the Audit Guidelines define scoring options for 0, 1, 3 and 5 points (rather than every value 1 through 5). An auditor can award a score outside of these options; the guidelines are provided to assist in decision-making, and the auditor can use their best judgement based on experience and training to determine what score to award. Auditors are expected to provide their rationale for scores outside of the defined options.

What if an auditee has less than three months of documentation?

If an auditee has less than 3 total months of documentation for review, the auditor cannot award full credit for paperwork questions.

Who do I contact with further questions?

Training is a required part of the auditor approval process for the Sustainability Standard and is an option for clients or other parties interested in thoroughly understanding Sustainability Standard requirements and procedures. To increase the availability of such training events, Sustainable Food Group is offering a Training Center program. In this program, organizations other than Sustainable Food Group may be approved to conduct Sustainability Standard trainings.  

Approved Training Centers may offer two types of training: 

1. Sustainability Standard Auditor Training: For third-party auditors of approved Certification Bodies who will be conducting on-site and desk audits of organizations seeking or maintaining Sustainability Standard certification. This training is also suitable for personnel who will be conducting internal Group assessments (i.e., internal audits) as part of the requirements for Group certification.  
2. Sustainability Standard Client Training: For clients interested in gaining a greater understanding of the Sustainability Standard requirements, normative documents and audit procedures.  

Training Centers may also be Certification Bodies for the Sustainability Standard scheme, but do not have to be. Detailed expectations for training events, including record keeping, promotion, Training Center conduct and trainer requirements can be found in the Training Center General Requirements. The Training Center General Requirements and Training Center Application are both available in the Program Documents section. 

Approved Training Centers

Links to access training events will be provided here once training centers have been onboarded.

Contact

Training Calendar