Supermarkets warn suppliers that quitting soy pledge could be deal-breaker

Cargill and Bunge among traders given deadline to re-join moratorium to protect Amazon rainforest

Major supermarkets have warned soy traders that they could lose contracts unless they re-join the Soy Moratorium.  

Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Lidl were among those to sign a letter responding to a decision by trade body Abiove to withdraw from the agreement, which commits members to stop buying soybeans from deforested land in the Amazon rainforest.

The letter was addressed to the CEOs of five major global agribusinesses – Bunge, Cargill, ADM, Louis Dreyfus Company and COFCO – who are all members of Abiove. 

Abiove justified its exit by saying the Moratorium had “fulfilled its historical role”, although it came on the back of Brazil’s biggest soy region removing tax benefits from signatories of the Soy Moratorium, arguing it was extra-territorial.  

“We are deeply disappointed to see that Abiove, and your company, has now voluntarily withdrawn from the Moratorium,” the retailers wrote, in the letter coordinated by the Retail Soy Group.  

They argued that the departure “risks weakening existing deterrents to deforestation, undermines future efforts to develop collaborative protection agreements, and threatens efforts to secure the sustainability of your investments in Brazilian soy production in the face of accelerated climate change”. 

The soy traders were given until February 16th to confirm their intention to independently re-join the moratorium, and re-affirm their existing commitments around climate change and deforestation. 

This information will be used by the supermarkets to “separately assess whether your business complies with our individual sourcing requirements and determine future sourcing decisions”. 

Other signatories include ALDI, the Co-operative Group, Coop Swiss, Marks & Spencer, Migros, Ocado, Waitrose and the Swiss Soy Network. 

Woolworths and Ahold Delhaize were not listed among the signatories, despite being members of the Retail Soy Group. 

A spokesperson for Ahold Delhaize told Real Economy Progress there was “not a specific reason” for not signing the letter, putting it down to “merely a matter of short timings”. 

The Dutch-Belgium food firm did not respond when asked whether that meant they supported the message behind the statement.  

Australian retailer Woolworths said it did not participate as “the material volume of soy in our supply chains is sourced from other regions [than the Amazon].”