Ribeirão Preto, Brazil: Bonsucro, the leading global sustainability platform for sugarcane, hosted the Bonsucro Inspire Awards 2022 to reward the sustainability initiatives of its members. The awards were held at Bonsucro Global Week in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil to an international audience of 250 people.
This year, the awards recognised initiatives in four different categories; value chain innovation, environmental, and social sustainability, along with commitment to continuous improvement in sustainability.
Danielle Morley, Bonsucro’s CEO said, “Congratulations to the winners for their fantastic achievement. Each of them has demonstrated great innovation and impact.”
The winner of the best value chain sustainability initiative is the Muda Cana program by ORPLANA in partnership with Solidaridad Brasil. This programme offers sugarcane producers technical assistance to meet their demands, promoting good practices, technical training and sustainable management.
The winner of the best environmental sustainability initiative is the SOS Fire (SOS Incêndios) programme by Canaoeste in partnership with GMG Ambiental. This project fights fires in sugarcane and native vegetation areas through fire safety measures.
The winner of best social sustainability initiative is the Integrated ARBO Child Labour and PPE Programme (IACAP), undertaken by Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. (SIFI) in partnership with Proforest, Nestle and ASR Group. This project focuses on institutionalising the prevention of child labour and promotion of appropriate PPE use among farmer organisations.
Each year Bonsucro asks its members to report progress and plans on sustainable production, processing and sourcing. Bonsucro gave out two awards to PepsiCo and Usina São Luiz for excellence in demonstrating their continuous improvement to sustainability.
The Bonsucro Inspire Awards 2022 were judge by a panel of experts in social and environmental sustainability. Judge Shivaaneey Rai of ChiniMandi commented that “I was amazed at the amount and [the] quality of work the teams had put into their approach and presentations”.
Bonsucro has been driving sustainability in sugarcane for more than a decade. The organisation really captured the attention of the sector this week at Bonsucro Global Week. The event was opened by Joaquim Leite, Brazil’s Ministry of Environment alongside other high profile industry players such as Danielle Machado S. Conde, from Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). Representatives from big brands such as PepsiCo, The Hershey Company, Ferrero, and Tetra Pak also attended.
