News
11/07/2023
The company initiated a project in February 2023 to verify the socio-environmental practices of its cattle suppliers for fattening, which currently includes over 137,800 heads of cattle.
Since February, Bom Futuro has been mapping its supply chain to analyze all suppliers of cattle for its units in Mato Grosso. “The mapping of the supply chain ensures that we are acquiring cattle from areas free of illegal deforestation, thereby confirming that our practices are environmentally correct and supporting sustainable development in line with ESG principles,” explains Elaine Lourenço, Bom Futuro's environmental manager.
In addition to verifying that the areas are free from illegal deforestation through the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), Bom Futuro's team also assesses whether the land where the cattle are raised does not invade Indigenous Lands or Conservation Units. They also check for any reports of conditions akin to slavery on the property or if it falls within embargoed areas, according to guidelines from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), Chico Mendes Institute (ICM-Bio), and the Mato Grosso State Secretariat for the Environment (Sema-MT).
To track the cattle, Bom Futuro's livestock team sends documentation to environmental management before acquiring cattle lots. Using specialized software, they conduct a thorough review of the rural property, and if it meets the criteria, the purchase is authorized to proceed.
“We have ten cattle fattening farms certified for sale to Europe. The herd needs to be tracked to go to the slaughterhouse. Now, not only these farms have environmental tracking, but we also ensure similar checks across all our units, verifying aspects like CAR, Animal Transport Guide (GTA), invoices, among others,” explains Élio Gabriel, Bom Futuro's Livestock Manager.
Consultations are conducted daily, even with recurring suppliers. By the first week of July, 287 properties had been verified. “This is the pathway to promoting a sustainable value chain for beef, meeting global demands for a low-carbon or carbon-neutral economy. Over the years, slaughterhouses have been conducting these analyses with their suppliers, and the entire chain is beginning to adopt the same procedures,” comments Elaine Lourenço.