Project
FSA Accelerator: Europe (European Sugar Beet)
Overview
Our European Sugar Beet Project created a unique environment of pre-competitive collaboration that enabled members to implement the FSA and reach sustainability objectives more easily, changing the industry.
- Duration
- 2013 to 2018
- Location
- Across Europe
- Commodity
- Sugar Beet
Topics:
The challenge
Within the sugar beet industry works there was not an industry-aligned sustainability reference. Growers were having to comply with multiple standards in some regions, while in others there was no appropriate standard.
Objectives
- Harmonising sustainability definitions and creating a more sustainable sugar beet industry
- Supporting implementation of SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA)
- Becoming a leader and reference point for sustainability in the sugar industry.
Achievements
- The project offered a pre-competitive, collaborative environment for competitors to meet and share knowledge
- Project members reviewed current best practices, and identified ways to improve sustainability in the sugar beet supply chain
- A critical mass of farmers and members was able to change the industry
- The FSA was established as a benchmarking, self-assessment, and verification reference in the sugar beet industry
- Closer relationships across the supply chain facilitated cooperation in meeting collaborative and individual objectives
- Lessons learned led to the creation of a Russian Sugar Beet Project (SUBERU).
