Westland Milk Products’ suppliers have helped the company move up global independent rankings for corporate social
responsibility.
Westland General Manager Environment and Milk Supply Mark Lockington said the involvement of Westland suppliers in
signing on to the company’s new Code of Conduct was one of the major factors behind Westland being awarded a Gold
ranking for its sustainability credentials.
In July, Westland was advised it was now amongst the top 5% of global companies ranked by sustainability auditors
EcoVadis and had been given the Gold Award.
The EcoVadis Gold Award demonstrates Westland is actively promoting responsible environmental practices, employee
engagement, and ethical codes of conduct.
“The new policies and procedures put in place with our supply chain, such as our Code of Conduct, were singled out by
EcoVadis as a factor in our improved ranking,’’ Mr Lockington said.
“We’re really grateful for the response from our suppliers in signing up to the Code and the care and time they took to
participate.
“The award levels continue to evolve in line with market expectations so we will need to continue to invest and improve
in order to maintain our Gold status.’’
Westland’s Code of Conduct sets out the company’s approach to ethical business conduct; health, safety, and wellbeing;
environment; labour and human rights and compliance with law.
As corporate social responsibility continues to increase in importance globally, Westland CEO Richard Wyeth said the
Gold award reduces the compliance expectations of new customers.
“Being able to demonstrate our social responsibility credentials is vital in global business and this ranking supports
the work done not only across our team, but across our whole supply chain,’’ Mr Wyeth said.
“It shows we mean business when it comes to operating to the highest ethical standards and can demonstrate our
commitment to corporate social responsibility, trust and integrity.’’
Westland first joined the EcoVadis ranking system in 2018 as a supply chain requirement of some major international
customers and has ranked at Silver for the past five years.