Client
The Certified Origins Group is a food company driven by a clear mission: to offer quality foods made with high-grade, responsibly sourced ingredients that contribute to healthier lifestyles and bring joy to everyday meals.
Specializing in extra virgin olive oil and other Mediterranean products, the company primarily operates through private label formats for leading global retailers. Certified Origins sources extra virgin olive oil and other ingredients from more than 200 local cooperatives, ensuring that each product reflects the quality, tradition, and biodiversity of its distinctly Mediterranean origin.
With a growing international presence, the group’s teams operate from Italy, Spain, Mexico, the United States, and China, distributing their products across North America, Europe, and Asia. The company partners with top global retailers, supported by bottling facilities in Italy and the U.S., and strong logistics operations.
One of Certified Origins’ unique strengths is its commitment to promoting and highlighting the products and territories they come from. A pioneer in transparency and traceability, Certified Origins leverages blockchain technology and dedicated systems to ensure the authenticity, quality, and origin of its ingredients—emphasizing not only the product itself, but also where it comes from and how it is produced.
The challenge
To define a sustainability strategy based on the ESG pillars—Environmental, Social, and Governance—that helps Certified Origins move toward a business model that respects the planet and the communities that depend on it. The objective is to address environmental challenges and integrate sustainability into the company’s structure, while also generating business opportunities through organizational transformations that impact business strategy, processes, and product design, taking into account the entire value chain.
What was done?
Certified Origins’ level of maturity in terms of sustainability was assessed by analyzing its starting point across several key areas:
– Decarbonization
– Water and biodiversity
– Ecodesign and waste management
– Procurement, reviewing processes and policies to ensure a sustainable value chain aligned with the company’s values and goals
– Human resources
– Clients, evaluating how their well-being and satisfaction are ensured
– Community, analyzing the company’s contribution to the local social fabric
– Governance, focusing on transparency, accountability, and regulatory compliance
A benchmarking exercise of ESG best practices in the sector was also conducted.
Based on the diagnostic and benchmarking results, a set of actions was defined and prioritized according to their strategic relevance and feasibility. Additionally, a governance system was co-created with key departments of the organization to assign roles and responsibilities within the team.
Resultats
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Initiatives were developed, each presented through a dedicated factsheet that includes key information for implementation: a description of the initiative, its alignment with the legislative framework, strategic priority, technical and economic feasibility, planned launch date, country of application, key monitoring indicators, level of customer demand, and the people responsible for each line of action.
Conclusions
The sustainability strategy is positioned as a key tool to strengthen Certified Origins’ leadership in the adoption of responsible business practices. It sets out guiding principles that allow for the organization of existing sustainability efforts—previously carried out in isolation—while enabling the cross-cutting implementation of the newly defined actions.
It is worth noting that the active involvement of the company’s leadership and strategic departments was essential throughout the entire development process of the ESG Strategy. Special attention was given to defining and prioritizing action lines, as well as designing the governance system, to ensure full alignment with the company’s value proposition, operational reality, and long-term vision.
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