Sourcing

Ensuring supply to our customers

We work closely with our supply partners to promote ethical and sustainable practices throughout the supply chain

Ethical and sustainable sourcing

The aim of our processes is to ensure that all the sugar we supply meets high standards for quality and sustainability. We audit factories to verify compliance to our policies.

We strive to procure sugar that drives best sustainability practices in agriculture that is ethically sourced and complies with the ABF Supplier Code of Conduct. We do this by partnering with growers, traders and agents within the supply chain.

For more information see our policies or please contact us.

Fairtrade

We procure a range of Fairtrade products directly and supply mass balance from the UK to guaranteed Fairtrade standards.

Fairtrade’s purpose is to support farmers and workers in lower income countries to get a better deal. Fairtrade terms enable Fairtrade producers to get fair trading conditions, stimulate social change and engage in environmental protection.

Of course, we ensure that producers meet all the expected standards for quality, consistency, and continuity of supply.

All our sugar whether homegrown in the UK or sourced from abroad go through a rigorous selection process.

Where we grow sugar

Where we source sugar

ABF Sugar Sites

We are the only producer that uses homegrown sugar beet. We are proud to process all the UK’s sugar beet crop from farms in the east of England, East Midlands and Yorkshire. The sugar beet is grown locally on average 28 miles from our factories to Red Tractor quality standards and is fully traceable to the farm.

In addition to the sugar we process from the UK beet crop, we also source sugar from around the world. We have been sourcing and trading EU and non-EU sugar for over 20 years and have built a network of reliable supply chain partners that meet our high standards for quality, reliability, and integrity.

We encourage our supply chain partners to use recognised and comparable industry sustainability standards, certifications and farm management approaches which include: Red Tractor, SAI Platform’s FSA, Bonsucro, SEDEX SMETA, VIVE and Fairtrade International.

Select one of the above options to learn more about our global operations