How to Choose Between CDP, EcoVadis, and SPOTT for Food Industry ESG Goals

In the increasingly complex world of corporate sustainability, certification schemes play a pivotal role in helping businesses showcase their commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices. For companies in the food industry, choosing the right certification can be the difference between a trusted reputation and missed opportunities for improvement. Among the top sustainability certification frameworks are CDP, Ecovadis, and SPOTT, each designed to assess companies’ sustainability efforts. Here, we explore the differences, similarities, and key insights for food industry companies to navigate these certifications.

1. CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)

Founded in 2000, CDP is a non-profit organization that offers a platform for environmental disclosure, helping companies to report their environmental impact. With over 18,700 companies and 1,100 cities disclosing their environmental data in 2022, CDP’s focus areas include climate change, water security, and deforestation. For a food company looking to track and mitigate its environmental footprint, CDP provides the tools and credibility needed to go public with your green credentials.

Scoring System:

• Climate Change Disclosure Score: Assesses the quality and comprehensiveness of a company's climate-related disclosures. Scores range from A to D-, with A being the highest.
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• Climate Change Performance Score: Evaluates the effectiveness of a company's climate-related actions and strategies. Scores range from A to D-, with A indicating leadership in climate performance.
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• Water Security Disclosure and Performance Scores: Similar to the climate change scores, these assess the quality of water-related disclosures and the effectiveness of water management practices.

2. EcoVadis

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EcoVadis has emerged as a leading player in sustainability ratings, providing a comprehensive platform to assess business supply chains across 21 criteria. With a focus on environmental, labor, ethics, and sustainable procurement practices, EcoVadis evaluates companies in over 160 countries. For food companies aiming to enhance their supply chain sustainability, EcoVadis offers a granular, multi-dimensional assessment.

Scoring System & Medals

Companies are evaluated based on their sustainability management system, receiving a score that reflects their performance. The scoring scale ranges from 0 to 100, and based on their percentile rank, companies are awarded medals to showcase their achievements:

• Platinum: Awarded to companies in the top 1% of sustainability performance, with scores ranging from 78 to 100.
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• Gold: Recognizes companies in the top 5%, with scores between 70 and 77.
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• Silver: Given to companies in the top 15%, with scores ranging from 59 to 69.
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• Bronze: For companies in the top 35%, with scores between 50 and 58.

3. SPOTT (Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit)

SPOTT is a unique framework focusing specifically on transparency in sustainability practices within the agriculture, forestry, and food sectors. Developed by the Zoological Society of London, it’s designed to drive accountability in industries where land-use and natural resource management are critical. SPOTT targets companies within the palm oil, timber, and pulp sectors but is increasingly relevant for food companies in need of sustainable sourcing certifications.

Scoring System:

• Score Range: 0 to 100, indicating the level of transparency in sustainability policies.
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• Criteria: SPOTT assesses companies based on their policies, commitments, and disclosures related to sustainability issues.

Similarities in Reporting or Evaluation Criteria

Though CDP, EcoVadis, and SPOTT each shine in their unique way, there are several areas where they overlap. These commonalities make these certifications more than just separate assessments—they represent a broader, shared goal in sustainability practices:

1. Transparency

One of the core tenets of these certifications is transparency. All three certifications require businesses to disclose detailed ESG data. This means being open about your environmental impacts, labor practices, ethical conduct, and sourcing transparency. For food companies, embracing transparency isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about building trust with your stakeholders, investors, and increasingly, your conscious consumers.

2. Continuous Improvement

These frameworks don’t just ask for a snapshot of where your company stands—they encourage ongoing progress. Whether it’s cutting down carbon emissions (CDP), improving supply chain sustainability (EcoVadis), or refining sourcing transparency (SPOTT), each certification nudges companies to set and meet targets that evolve over time. Sustainability is a journey, not a destination, and these certifications ensure that companies keep moving forward.

3. Third-Party Evaluation

At the heart of CDP, EcoVadis, and SPOTT is the importance of an unbiased, third-party evaluation. This not only ensures the credibility of the assessments but also offers an external perspective on where companies can improve. The value of third-party assessments lies in their objectivity, which helps businesses identify areas that may have otherwise been overlooked. For people who don’t what a third party evaluation is, this means that an independent organization reviews and scores your sustainability efforts, ensuring fairness, trustworthiness, and identifying areas for improvement.

How to Choose the Right Certification for Your Business

Choosing the appropriate certification scheme depends on several factors, such as the specific ESG goals and challenges your business faces. Here's how to approach the decision-making process:

Consider Industry-Specific Challenges:

If you’re operating in processed foods, beverages, or agriculture, CDP may be particularly valuable for tracking carbon emissions, water usage, and deforestation. However, if your focus is more on sustainable sourcing or ethical practices within your supply chain, EcoVadis or SPOTT may be better suited to meet those specific needs. While SPOTT offers deep dives into sourcing practices, EcoVadis provides a broader view of environmental, social, and ethical performance across the supply chain.

Evaluate Your ESG Priorities:

If carbon emissions reduction and climate risk management are at the forefront of your company’s strategy, CDP is a clear fit. On the other hand, if you're prioritizing sustainability across your entire supply chain, including labor practices and ethical sourcing, EcoVadis provides a comprehensive, all-encompassing evaluation. For companies focusing specifically on transparency in sourcing, such as sustainable palm oil or deforestation-free supply chains, SPOTT provides tailored criteria.

Consider Global and Regional Impact:

If you’re working internationally and need a broad framework for evaluating diverse global supply chains, EcoVadis is ideal with its global supply chain transparency focus. However, if your company is grappling with specific regional sourcing challenges—whether it’s the deforestation risks of palm oil production in Southeast Asia or ethical timber sourcing—SPOTT is tailored to assess policies and practices in these key areas.

Tips for Implementing Sustainability Certifications in Your Food Company

1. Map Your Supply Chain

Before diving into any certification process, understanding your entire supply chain is crucial. Each certification has its focus: CDP hones in on environmental impacts like carbon emissions and water usage, EcoVadis spans a broad spectrum from environmental to labor practices, and SPOTT zeroes in on sourcing transparency, especially with raw materials.

Steps to Map Your Supply Chain:

• Identify Key Inputs: For food companies, these might include critical ingredients like palm oil, soy, sugar, cocoa, and water. Understanding the origins and production practices of these ingredients is vital for certifications like SPOTT, which is deeply concerned with responsible sourcing.
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• Evaluate Tiered Supply Chains: It’s essential to consider not only your direct suppliers but also the indirect ones who supply materials to them. For example, when sourcing cocoa, a food company may need to evaluate the sustainability practices of its suppliers' farmers or distributors. The transparency here is key.
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• Assess Geographic Hotspots: Certain regions carry distinct ESG risks. For instance, sourcing palm oil from Southeast Asia? Pay attention to SPOTT's stringent criteria around deforestation and land-use practices. Identifying these "hotspots" early on helps you focus your sustainability efforts where they are needed most.

Tip: Use mapping tools like EcoVadis’ supplier platform or CDP’s data reporting tools to get a clearer picture of your supply chain’s impact. Transparency starts with visibility.

2. Set Clear, Achievable Goals Based on Certification Criteria

Each certification comes with its own criteria, so setting realistic and tailored goals is essential. CDP measures environmental footprints like emissions and water use, while EcoVadis tracks 21 criteria ranging from environmental performance to labor and ethical practices. SPOTT, on the other hand, helps food companies align sourcing transparency with sustainability efforts.

Steps to Set Goals:

• CDP Goals: If you’re going for CDP, set specific targets for reducing carbon emissions, optimizing water use, or mitigating deforestation. For example, commit to cutting carbon emissions by 15% in three years or introduce water-saving technologies in your production processes.
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• EcoVadis Goals: If EcoVadis is your target, think about improving your sourcing practices, enhancing waste management, or addressing social aspects like labor rights in your supply chain. A practical goal could be ensuring 50% of your suppliers meet EcoVadis sustainability criteria within the next two years.
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• SPOTT Goals: With SPOTT, the focus shifts to transparency in sourcing practices, especially concerning natural resources. Set goals such as sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil or ensuring full traceability of soy by a specific year.

Tip: Use the scores and feedback from these frameworks as a baseline. This helps you identify what’s working and where the gaps lie. Keep checking in on your progress to stay aligned with your goals.

3. Engage Stakeholders Early in the Process

Sustainability certifications are a team effort, and involving your key stakeholders early is essential. Whether it’s internal teams or external suppliers, everyone needs to be on board for the certification process to run smoothly.

Steps to Engage Stakeholders:

• Internal Teams: Sustainability is cross-functional. To make sure everything aligns, engage various departments—from procurement to production, logistics to marketing. Each team needs to understand its role in meeting certification requirements.
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• Suppliers and Partners: Don’t wait for the certification application to get started—reach out to suppliers early. Clear communication of your sustainability expectations will ensure that everyone’s on the same page. For EcoVadis, for example, suppliers will need to meet sustainability standards across environmental, social, and ethical practices. The sooner they’re aligned, the better.
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• Share the Benefits: Help stakeholders understand what’s in it for them. For suppliers, certifications can open doors to new markets and build stronger business relationships. For internal teams, the visibility of eco-conscious practices can boost brand reputation and attract sustainable-minded customers.

Tip: Build a communication strategy that clearly outlines the roles and expectations for both internal and external stakeholders. This guarantees that everyone knows what’s expected and is accountable along the way.

4. Build a Data Management System to Track Progress

Certifications are all about accountability, and tracking progress through data management is key. Whether it’s tracking emissions for CDP, assessing labor conditions for EcoVadis, or monitoring sourcing transparency for SPOTT, a robust data system will ensure you meet the certification standards.

With Passionfruit’s automation and integration capabilities, this principle is brought to life effectively. The platform allows companies to collect, manage, and answer ESG questionnaires, while easily adapting it to meet different regulatory frameworks and client requests.

Key Advantages of Passionfruit:

• Centralized Data Management:Automation tools like Passionfruit can centralize your key ESG, quality, and compliance information needed to answer compliance questions and questionnaires.  Instead of searching across spreadsheets, emails, and scattered reports, all your data is gathered in one place, ready to be pulled for any questionnaire.
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• Automated Formatting and Distribution: Automation not only helps you collect the right ESG data, but it also formats it automatically. Whether you need to submit the data in an Excel file, PDF, or upload it to an online portal, tools like Passionfruit ensure your answers are always delivered in the correct format. For example, if your company is part of a sustainable seafood supply chain and a retailer requests your carbon emissions and supply chain transparency data in Excel, automation allows you to instantly generate and send the accurately formatted file without manually handling a spreadsheet.
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• Improved Collaboration and Transparency: With built-in task management tools, review loops, and role-based access control, Passionfruit simplifies collaboration across teams and ensures that everyone involved in the reporting process has clear, up-to-date information.

5. Integrate Sustainability into Company Culture

The path to sustainability certification isn’t just about systems and processes—it’s about fostering a mindset across the organization. For CDP, EcoVadis, and SPOTT, sustainability must be woven into your company’s very fabric.

Steps to Integrate Sustainability into Culture:

• Leadership Commitment: For sustainability to be successful, it needs to start at the top. A CEO or sustainability officer who actively discusses and advocates for sustainability helps ensure company-wide buy-in. Aligning your company’s vision with sustainability goals is critical.
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• Employee Training: Make sure all employees, regardless of their department, understand the importance of these certifications and how they contribute to achieving sustainability goals. From production staff trained on reducing energy consumption to procurement teams focused on sustainable sourcing, everyone has a role.
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• Recognition and Rewards: Incentivize sustainability efforts. Whether it’s through recognition programs or financial bonuses, celebrating employees who champion sustainability helps motivate continued progress and reinforces the company’s commitment.

Tip: Integrate sustainability goals into employee performance metrics. This helps build a company-wide commitment to achieving the certification and ensures sustainability becomes embedded in the day-to-day work culture.

6. Regularly Monitor, Report, and Adjust

Certification isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing commitment. To maintain certification and improve over time, regular monitoring and reporting are critical. As ESG regulations and market expectations shift, so too should your practices.

Steps for Ongoing Monitoring:

• Conduct Regular Audits: Schedule periodic audits to ensure your company meets the certification standards. This includes reviewing data on energy consumption, waste management, sourcing practices, and social conditions in your supply chain.
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• Submit Annual Reports: CDP, EcoVadis, and SPOTT often require annual or bi-annual updates on your sustainability performance. Include progress towards your goals, improvements made, and challenges faced in meeting certification standards.
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• Adapt to Changing Standards: Certification standards evolve as regulations change or new sustainability challenges arise. Stay informed about updates to the certification criteria and adjust your practices accordingly.

Tip: Set up regular review sessions to assess progress and identify areas for improvement. This ongoing evaluation ensures you remain on track for recertification and continuous progress.

Conclusion

Obtaining the right sustainability certification is crucial for food companies committed to ESG practices. Certifications like CDP, EcoVadis, and SPOTT offer distinct frameworks that help businesses track and improve their sustainability efforts, ensuring transparency, accountability, and continuous progress. By choosing the certification that aligns with your company's goals, engaging stakeholders, and integrating sustainability into your culture, you not only enhance your reputation but also contribute to a more sustainable future.

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