We are happy to announce that Red River Foods has become a participant of the Sustainable Nut Initiative (SNI). SNI brings key players in the nut industry together to strategically develop sustainable supply chains and a traceable nut sector. SNI’s participants are committed to improve the transparency in the nut chain, strengthening the relationship with farmer cooperatives and working towards volume and quality improvement. We talked to Dan Phipps, President & CEO of Red River Foods, about their motivation to join SNI.

Red River Foods is a leading global supplier of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and specialty snacks. Our mission is to source the highest quality foods, provide expert market insight, and develop sustainable supply chains around the world. The entire company is grounded in the understanding that taking care of the farmers, harvesters, and processors who provide our products is critical to safeguarding the sustainability of our planet, our food supply, and the livelihood of families in the communities where we operate. Our sales and sourcing teams put their boots on the ground, travel the world, and meet the people and families who make their living providing our customers with quality products.

Why do you think an Initiative like the Sustainable Nut Initiative is important?

Although we are very proud of the progress we’ve made to develop a more sustainable cashew supply chain, we recognise the challenges of our industry are greater than one company can overcome alone. We believe collaborative, focused efforts similar to the Sustainable Nut Initiative help to expedite and magnify progress for key stakeholders.

Why did Red River Foods join the Sustainable Nut Initiative?

Red River Foods believes traceability and transparency are imperative foundations of any successful sustainability programme. We hope to share our experience with the participants while learning best practices from industry peers through SNI collaboration.

What is the main challenge for Red River Foods when you look at sustainability and nut supply chains?

Building an equitable and sustainable nut supply requires an in-depth understanding and participation within all steps of the process from raw material procurement through processing and logistics. We believe maintaining a consistent presence within growing communities, processing facilities and consuming markets is key to supplying high quality product, providing expert market advice and building sustainable supply chains.  The incredibly vast growing area of cashews and other widely consumed tree nuts makes it difficult to establish operations within every country making traceability and transparency more challenging.  As our business continues to grow, sourcing high-quality products from trusted supply chain partners regardless of ever-changing market conditions remains our greatest challenge.

What can the Sustainable Nut Initiative bring to tackle this challenge?

Strengthening partnerships via SNI collaboration will enable us to leverage best practices and improve scalability across the cashew supply chain.

What is your expectation of the Sustainable Nut Initiative?

Red River Foods is interested in long-term, sustainable relationships with companies who share our values of treating people fairly and sourcing healthy food items ethically and responsibly. We don’t believe that running a profitable business and having a positive impact on communities who produce our food are mutually exclusive.  On the contrary, we are confident all supply chain participants can achieve equitable, sustained growth via honest communication, feedback and coordination.  We hope SNI can act as a catalyst towards these efforts.