There is an ever-increasing interest by consumers in understanding the source and environmental factors that go into the products and services we use. Trace’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) group provides tools that enable our partners who source agricultural goods to understand the environmental aspects of their supply chain and provide insights into how crops can be grown more sustainably.
At the heart of our sustainability program is TESS™, our Trace Environment Soil System engine. This powerful tool delivers insights into the health of a soil system. Our TESS engine analyzes soil DNA, chemistry and other parameters to provide a Sustainable Soil Performance Rating (SSP™) for fields and farms. The SSP provides an objective view into how sustainable land has been farmed, and provides insights into actions that can be taken to improve sustainability, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and crop quality.
The SSP™ is 0-10 rating that consists of four components: soil biodiversity, water, carbon, and nutrients. The components are normalized so soils from different regions can be compared. Consumer Packaged Goods companies (CPGs) and agricultural groups, among others, are optimistic about using this approach to better understand sustainability aspects of their supply chain, and to influence action at the farmgate that will improve aspects being measured over time.
Below is an example of benchmarking sustainable growing regions. We also provide benchmarking by crop types and over time to show a complete picture of the supply chain. Since SSP is objectively measured with tight quality controls, it can be used with confidence for critical ESG reporting initiatives.
