How Our Supplier Code Of Conduct Works Across Every Tier

Responsible sourcing depends on more than the conduct of a direct supplier. Fresh Del Monte Produce’s agricultural products move through interconnected networks that can include farms, labor providers, packers, processors, transport companies, contractors, and raw-material suppliers. Each participant can influence working conditions, product integrity, environmental performance, and the trust customers place in our brands.

Our Supplier Code of Conduct establishes a common standard for these relationships. It reflects expectations concerning human rights, labor practices, health and safety, environmental stewardship, business integrity, and compliance with applicable law. The objective is to make responsible behavior part of everyday purchasing and operating decisions, rather than treating it as a separate compliance exercise.

Enforcement across all tiers requires visibility, accountability, and follow-through. That means setting expectations before a relationship begins, assessing risk throughout the partnership, investigating concerns, and requiring corrective action when standards are not met.

Extending Expectations Beyond Direct Suppliers

The first step is defining who falls within the scope of responsible sourcing. Direct suppliers are expected to understand and follow the Code, while relevant requirements are communicated through their own supply chains. This approach helps extend expectations to subcontractors, producers, labor agencies, service providers, and other parties involved in delivering goods or services.

Supplier agreements, purchase conditions, onboarding materials, and related business communications can reinforce these obligations. Where a supplier relies on another company for production, recruitment, transportation, or processing, that relationship must remain consistent with the same principles. A supplier cannot avoid responsibility simply by outsourcing a sensitive activity.

Tier visibility is developed through supplier disclosures, business records, risk assessments, certifications, and engagement with operating teams. Complete visibility can take time, especially in complex agricultural and global sourcing networks, so the process emphasizes progressive transparency and attention to the areas where potential harm is greatest.

Building Accountability Into Supplier Selection

Enforcement begins before a supplier is approved. Procurement and relevant business teams can review a prospective partner’s location, products, workforce model, operating history, and exposure to environmental or human rights risks. The findings help determine whether additional documentation, verification, or management review is needed.

Suppliers may be asked to acknowledge the Code, provide information about their facilities and subcontractors, and demonstrate how they manage issues such as worker safety, wages, working hours, forced labor, child labor, discrimination, waste, water use, and anti-corruption controls. The depth of review is proportionate to the risk and nature of the relationship.

Performance expectations also become part of ongoing supplier management. Commercial decisions consider quality, reliability, cost, and service alongside responsible business conduct. A supplier that consistently fails to address serious violations may face suspension, loss of business, or termination, subject to the facts of the case and applicable contractual requirements.

Monitoring Conditions Through Risk-Based Reviews

A single assessment cannot provide a complete picture of supply chain performance. Conditions can change when ownership, labor arrangements, production locations, or local circumstances change. For this reason, monitoring uses a combination of supplier information, internal knowledge, audits or assessments, certifications, grievance data, and credible external sources.

Higher-risk suppliers and activities receive closer attention. Indicators may include labor-intensive production, recruitment through third parties, limited transparency, operations in areas with elevated human rights concerns, environmental sensitivity, or a history of nonconformance. Reviews can examine policies, payroll and working-hour records, permits, training, worker interviews, incident logs, and environmental controls.

The same principle applies to environmental responsibility. Supply chain oversight supports commitments related to sustainable sourcing, protected-land monitoring, resource efficiency, and ecosystem protection. For example, our work connected to the million trees pledge demonstrates why environmental goals require cooperation among growers, operational teams, communities, and other partners.

Giving Workers And Communities A Voice

Formal records are valuable, but they cannot replace direct insight from people affected by supply chain practices. Effective due diligence considers whether workers can raise concerns safely, whether they understand their rights, and whether complaints are reviewed without retaliation. Appropriate communication channels should be accessible to workers with different languages, literacy levels, and employment arrangements.

Grievances can reveal issues that a scheduled assessment misses. Reports may concern recruitment fees, withheld documents, excessive hours, unsafe housing, harassment, discrimination, wage problems, or environmental effects on neighboring communities. Each concern should be evaluated according to its seriousness, credibility, urgency, and potential impact on people or the environment.

A credible response protects the reporter, preserves relevant information, and focuses on remedy. Where a supplier uses labor brokers or subcontractors, investigations must examine the full chain of responsibility rather than stopping with the immediate employer. Findings can lead to training, repayment, policy changes, strengthened supervision, or other corrective measures.

Requiring Corrective Action And Remediation

When a review identifies a gap, the goal is to address the underlying cause and prevent recurrence. A corrective action plan should describe the finding, assign responsibility, establish a realistic deadline, and specify how completion will be verified. Serious risks require faster action and closer oversight than administrative or low-impact deficiencies.

Remediation may include improving protective equipment, correcting wage calculations, eliminating recruitment charges, restoring legal benefits, updating emergency procedures, changing contractor controls, or strengthening environmental safeguards. In some situations, the appropriate remedy involves affected workers or communities directly, including repayment, medical support, restoration of access, or other forms of redress.

Suppliers are expected to provide credible evidence of progress. Follow-up may involve document reviews, interviews, site verification, or a new assessment. Closing a finding means demonstrating that the problem has been corrected and that management systems are capable of sustaining the improvement.

Escalating Serious Or Persistent Violations

Some violations require immediate escalation. Indicators can include forced labor, child labor, trafficking, severe health and safety threats, retaliation against workers, bribery, significant environmental damage, falsified records, or deliberate obstruction of oversight. The response should prioritize safety and remedy while preserving the integrity of the investigation.

Persistent noncompliance also matters. A supplier that repeatedly misses deadlines, conceals facilities, refuses access, or provides unreliable information may create greater risk than a partner that openly reports a weakness and works to correct it. Cooperation, transparency, and demonstrated improvement are therefore important parts of supplier performance.

Escalation can involve senior management review, heightened monitoring, temporary suspension of new business, removal of a subcontractor, or termination of the relationship. Ending a contract is considered carefully, particularly where abrupt disengagement could increase harm to workers or communities. The response should be proportionate, documented, and aligned with legal and ethical responsibilities.

Strengthening Supply Chain Performance

Consistent enforcement depends on collaboration across procurement, operations, sustainability, legal, human resources, quality, and regional leadership. Shared information helps teams recognize patterns, prioritize high-risk suppliers, and avoid treating each finding as an isolated event. Training supports consistent decisions and helps employees understand when an issue must be elevated.

Suppliers also need practical support. Clear standards, translated materials, guidance on corrective action, and appropriate engagement can help smaller or less experienced partners improve their systems. Capacity building does not remove accountability; it makes compliance more achievable and helps responsible practices reach deeper into the value chain.

The following actions help reinforce the Code across every tier:

• Map direct suppliers, production sites, labor providers, subcontractors, and other relevant business partners.
• Apply risk-based screening and monitoring instead of relying on a single annual certification.
• Provide safe, accessible channels for worker and community concerns.
• Track corrective actions to verified completion, with clear escalation for overdue or serious findings.
• Use supplier performance data to inform sourcing, renewal, training, and continuous improvement decisions.

When these mechanisms operate together, the Supplier Code of Conduct becomes an active management system. It connects purchasing choices with human rights protection, safe work, environmental care, and ethical business behavior. It also creates a clearer path for suppliers to understand expectations and demonstrate progress.

Fresh Del Monte Produce will continue working with suppliers and partners to strengthen transparency, identify risks earlier, and improve performance across the value chain. Read our sustainability updates, engage with responsible sourcing efforts, and help advance a supply network where every tier is expected to operate with integrity.