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Supply Chain
Sustainability

 

Creating a sustainable supply chain

Our products are available in over 85 countries. We work with raw material suppliers, packaging suppliers, warehouses and distributors among many other partners to ensure we deliver high quality products to our consumers. Beyond our operations, our business partners also play a vital role in our sustainability journey. As part of our Sustainable Procurement Policy, we hold all our suppliers accountable for adhering to these standards and are dedicated to supporting them in to meet the outlined expectations of the Policy. The policy has a focus of 4 key parameters –

 

Ethically driven

We conduct and expect our suppliers to conduct their our business activities in a fair and transparent manner with honesty, integrity, high ethical and moral standards and respect for human rights. It covers –

  • Conflict of interest
    Suppliers are expected to report any conflict of interest in any business dealings with GCPL that supplier is aware of to allow us the opportunity to take appropriate action
  • Anti-bribery, anti-corruption, gifts and donations
    Suppliers in all commercial dealings with GCPL or otherwise must not receive or offer to make any illegal payments, gifts, bribes, donations or other improper advantage in order to obtain unethical favours for the business.
  • Confidentiality
    Suppliers shall safeguard and respect GCPL’s intellectual property; trade secrets and other confidential, proprietary and sensitive information or data at all times and shall not disclose the same.
  • Anti-competitive and restrictive trade practices
    Suppliers must comply with applicable local and international laws to promote free and fair competition and to get business by offering competitive prices and innovative products.
  • Forced and child labour
    Suppliers shall prohibit use of child labour at any stage of their business process. Our suppliers must not use forced labour including prison or debt bondage labour, human trafficking or modern day slavery.
  • Compensation, working hours and working conditions
    We expect suppliers to comply with applicable wage and hour laws, regulations and mandatory industry standards pertaining to minimum wages, overtime pay, working hours and rest periods. Working conditions must be safe and suppliers must practice robust relevant management practices in order to comply with applicable health and safety laws, rules, regulations and industry standards.
  • Non-discrimination
    Suppliers must ensure there is no discrimination in their hiring and employment practices on the basis of race, colour, gender, age, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, medical condition etc.
  • Freedom of association
    Suppliers must respect their employees’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and ensure that they can choose to do so without fear of reprisal, intimidation or harassment.
 

Social focused

We are committed towards supporting sustainable development and business practices. Social focused covers –

  • Fair dealing with vendors/suppliers
    We encourage our suppliers to conduct all transactions with their business partners in fair and transparent manner including fair evaluation, reasonable selection, equal opportunities, fair and free competition for all.
  • Diversity in workforce
    We suggest that suppliers should take initiatives to have a diverse and inclusive workforce in terms of age, gender, experience, ethnicity etc.
  • Engage and involve local communities
    We encourage our suppliers to address issues and concerns of the community impacted by operations of the supplier and minimise the impact.
  • Occupational health and safety
    Suppliers must comply with applicable health and safety laws, rules, regulations and industry standards. The suppliers should conduct regular training and awareness activities for employees at all levels on health and safety. Suppliers should also establish key health and safety performance indicators and monitor them to continually improve their health and safety performance.
 

Green inspired

We aim at making our value chain environmental friendly and responsible. It covers –

  • Reducing energy consumption and carbon emission
    We suggest that our suppliers identify sources of carbon emission and make progressive efforts towards reducing carbon emissions. They also should find ways to improve energy efficiency in their processes.
  • Renewable energy
    We recommend our suppliers to use renewable sources of energy wherever possible so as to become more energy efficient and energy independent
  • Efficient systems and process
    Suppliers should strive towards enhancing the efficiency and performance of the equipments and processes by continual improvement, monitoring and assessment of technology and reduce their energy and water intake.
  • Reducing usage of hazardous and toxic materials and substances
    We expect our suppliers to assess their use of hazardous and toxic material and take necessary steps to reduce it, as much as possible.
  • Zero waste to landfill
    Waste to landfill should be analysed and suppliers should try and set targets to reduce the quantity of disposal to landfills.
  • Responsible consumption of resources
    We recommend our suppliers to minimise use of all resources, including virgin raw material, in their processes
  • Packaging material
    Suppliers should try and take steps to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging material by developing innovative, practical solutions to modify the design and disposal method to the best possible extent.
 

Quality Centred

Ensuring quality and adherence to manufacturing and product standard is of prime importance to us. It covers –

  • Quality Management System
    We expect our suppliers to establish quality objectives, policies, manual, procedures and have in place a certified Quality Management System by competent authority like ISO.
  • Facility and Machinery
    We expect our suppliers to give utmost importance to equipment design, installation, maintenance and ensure validation/verification of the same.
  • Good Manufacturing Practices and Quality Controls
    We expect our suppliers to have in place established manufacturing and packaging operations with proper maintenance of records along with process controls and finish product release programme.
  • Material Management
    We expect our suppliers to have in place established practices for storage, handling and transportation of raw material and to maximise the risk prevention measures through good warehousing practices and proper handling of rejected item.
 

Our commitment

To achieve our goals it is empirical that our suppliers share our values and vision; and raise the sustainability standards in our supply chain. We acknowledge that long-term sustainable development of our suppliers is critical to our joint success and we value our relationship with suppliers who share the same approach and vision towards doing business.

Our aim By 2025 -

  • Cover 75% of suppliers by procurement spends under the Sustainable Procurement Policy

Our progress so far

  • Covered 76% of suppliers by procurement spends
 

Supplier screening

Every year, within our supplier evaluation framework, we gather both qualitative and quantitative data to formulate a comprehensive composite score derived from supplier responses. To drive continual adherence, we have instituted self declarations from suppliers, supplemented by external audits conducted by a contracted consultant. The suppliers are audited on all the above aspects of Governance, Social, Green and Quality. We follow the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting standards of SEBI for assessment and also adhere to global standards such as ISO 9001, 28000, 45001, SEDEX, and EcoVadis for supplier assessment.

We evaluate country-specific ESG risks of the suppliers arising out of regulatory system, sector-specific ESG risks of human rights and waste and pollution and commodity-specific ESG risks of material toxicity and pollution potential of packaging materials.

Basis this evaluation, we have delineated category-specific targets, disseminated industry benchmarks, and recommended corrective measures and enhancement strategies. The Board ESG Committee receives regular updates on the progress of supplier evaluations, underscoring our commitment to accountability. Through these measures, we ensure suppliers align with our Sustainable Procurement Policy and its accompanying code, thereby mitigating any potential conflicts with ESG requirement.

 

Supplier development

We initiated capacity building for suppliers and internal stakeholders to advance their sustainability journey. 71 unique suppliers, representing 52% of our Tier-1 suppliers, participated in training covering sustainability, ESG initiatives, human rights, biodiversity, and environmental parameters like extended producer responsibility and greenhouse gas emissions.

We also shared industry best practices and provided access to ESG benchmarks against peers, and recommended actions for improvement. We provide remote support to our suppliers to improve their sustainability performance and score. Our contracted consultant also provides in-depth technical support to our suppliers to help move their scores to the green zone.

Sustainability assessments through a self-declaration questionnaire are part of our new vendor initiation protocol, reinforcing our commitment to sustainable practices. We annually review procurement practices to ensure alignment with our Sustainable Procurement Policy and track supplier improvement in their scores.