Is it Possible to Check the Sustainability of the Oil Throughout the Chain?

Dcoop and Pompeian, the Group's U.S. olive oil production partner, announced their plans to make Sustainably Grown® certification the strategic core of their alliance, verifying the sustainability of the oil along the entire value chain.

To this end, the production and processing cooperatives of the Dcoop Group, as well as storage and packaging centers in Spain and the United States, will take the necessary steps to obtain such certification.

Pompeian is the only current olive oil brand in the world that carries the Certified Sustainably Grown® label on its Sunrise Olive Ranch olive oil in Maricopa, California.

The Sustainably Grown certification program, managed by SCS Global Services, provides a global framework and common set of requirements for agricultural production in terms of environmental management, social and ethical responsibility, economic sustainability and business integrity.

The certification will facilitate Dcoop's response to the new challenges posed by the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, by meeting customer demand for verified sustainability.

To do this, it will be necessary that both the Group's cooperatives and the storage and packaging centers in Spain and the United States take the necessary measures.

Thus, a multidisciplinary group with Dcoop technical staff and a Pompeian team led by women was created to support the implementation of the independent Sustainably Grown standard and the process necessary to qualify for certification in each cooperative and work center.

The evaluation process is conducted by independent external auditors to ensure reliability and transparency.

Dcoop will start with an initial group of eight cooperatives that will go through certification in 2023/24.

Subsequently, the rest of the Group's cooperatives will be incorporated at an approximate rate of 15 to 20 cooperatives per year, reaching 97 in 2027. Among the cooperatives are: Sca Olivarera and Cerealista Nuestra Señora del Valle (Santaella), Sca Agrícola Los Tajos (Alhama de Granada), Nuestra Señora de Araceli (Lucena), Grupo De Prado (Córdoba), Sca Oleoalgaidas (Villanueva de Algaidas), Dcoop Sca (Dos Hermanas), Sca La Purísima Concepción.
"We continue to work for sustainability and what could be better than doing it than with our partners in Pompeian to achieve the goal that our partner cooperatives be certified in environmental management in the near future," said Rafael Sánchez de Puerta, general manager of Dcoop.

"As the first olive oil brand to achieve certification in the United States and the only oil brand currently certified, we are proud to work with our partners at Dcoop to raise the sustainability standard for this product," said Paula Lopes, VP of Quality, R&D and Environment at Pompeian. "We are excited to continue certifying all of our properties and adding Dcoop Cooperative to our certified portfolio."

To celebrate this historic achievement, Pompeian plans to produce a series of the first SCS Sustainably Grown certified olive oil in the United States, available only in limited quantities.
Dcoop and Pompeian joined their paths in 2015 with the aim of turning this alliance into a world leader in olive oil trade, addressing all global markets to be the go-to operators. In fact, Pompeian is the leader in the extra vir gin olive oil market share, according to Nielsen data as of June 2022, and is a leader in almost all of the United States.

Pompeian, Inc. – The Olive Oil People – is America's largest brand of olive oil, best-selling vinegars and offers a wide variety of cooking sprays.

Pompeian, owned by farmers and based in Baltimore since 1906, is a family of olive growers and oil artisans whose passion, experience and dedication bring the tastiest and highest quality oils to kitchens around the world.

Maintaining the highest quality standards, Pompeian conducts daily tests through its in-house quality control team in the state-of-the-art Pompeian quality control and R&D center, ensuring that each bottle is always at its optimum point of freshness. Inspired by heritage and tradition, Pompeian products are based on authenticity and are made with quality and good taste.

Meanwhile, SCS Global Services is a world leader in third-party verification, certification, auditing, testing and development of environmental and sustainability standards.

Their programs cover a wide range of sectors and recognize achievements in climate change mitigation, ecological construction, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, consumer products, etc. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, SCS has representatives and affiliated offices in the Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Africa.

Its extensive network of experienced auditors in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to other companies, agencies and defense organizations because of its dedication to quality and professionalism.

SCS is a collegiate Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. The certification standard for sustainable agricultural crops, version 3.0, was developed under the auspices of SCS Standards, the non-profit subsidiary of SCS Global Services.