As a food company, Clif Bar & Company is working step by step to help create a healthier, more just and sustainable food system. We are on a journey to do business in a different way—we strive to reduce our environmental footprint and improve in everything we do, from the field to the final product. We have put in place responsible sourcing goals, practices and policies to communicate our values and expectations for suppliers to act ethically and responsibly.

To understand our sustainable sourcing practices, we want to share how we work with expert third parties and evaluate risks and opportunities in four areas we call our ‘CORE’ values of sustainable sourcing:

CONNECT

Connect with the farmers who grow our food and create a traceable supply chain.

• Our traceability program ensures we know where our ingredients come from, and we visit select suppliers and farmers annually.

ORGANIC

Increase our purchase of organic, transitional, and certified-sustainable ingredients.

• To date, 76 percent of everything we buy is certified organic. We’ve purchased over one billion pounds of organic ingredients since 2003.
• We strive to increase organic and certified-sustainable purchases every year and are on track to reach 80% organic and certified sustainable ingredient volume by 2020.

RESTORE

Support and encourage restorative practices that reduce environmental impacts, conserve natural resources and protect biodiversity.

• Our key facilities including our HQ, bakeries, and distribution centers, are working towards zero waste with a 2020 goal of 90 percent waste diversion from landfills.
• We are working to reduce our CO2 emissions and also run climate neutral business operations, offsetting the remainder of our emissions from our energy use, business travel, and shipping to our distribution centers.
• By sourcing organic ingredients, we reward agricultural practices that support soil health and carbon sequestration.
• We encourage our product designers to take into consideration principles of restorative agricultural systems, such as crop diversity and rotations, when creating delicious snacks.

ETHICAL

Source ingredients using fair labor practices.

• For Clif, it all starts with getting to know our suppliers and engaging in a two-way dialogue
• All of our suppliers go through an extensive screening process for quality ingredient selection.
• We want people to understand our expectations and sustainable sourcing goals.
• To that end, we have a supplier code of conduct that speaks to our values and expectations on legal, social and environmental responsibility. Our code is based on select International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions and covers a full range of ethical trading issues focused on labor rights; including a safe environment, the right to organize, freedom to leave premises, and the absence of forced labor, slavery, human trafficking and discrimination in the workplace, among many others.
• To ensure that we are keeping ourselves and our suppliers to the highest possible standard, we regularly update our Code of Conduct to reflect an evolving understanding of pressing supply chain issues.
• Clif checks up to confirm our expectations are met and correct any issues to ensure that we are moving together towards our mutual goals.
• Yearly third-party social compliance announced audits are completed at select suppliers
• Meeting the supplier code of conduct and all applicable laws, codes and regulations is an expectation of doing business with Clif Bar & Company. While Clif has the right to terminate a contract if a violation is ever found, we prefer to work with suppliers to improve working conditions and implement corrective actions.

In addition, responsible sourcing training is required for our management, key staff within our supply chain and social responsibility team.

Through these verification, auditing, compliance certification and training efforts and more, Clif is committed to socially responsible sourcing practices and improving along the way. We know we are not perfect and that creating a sustainable supply chain is an on-going process of continual improvement.