Sustainable chain development

Are you looking to build a sustainable and resilient supply chain?
Hire us to achieve your sustainability goals.

A woman voicing her opinion in a cooperative meeting
Global connections

Global connections

For over 40 years, Rikolto has been working on sustainable agriculture and food. Throughout the years, we’ve built global networks consisting of farmer organisations and diverse actors in the food system. Rikolto is a network organisation with teams in 17 countries.

Full support

We can offer full support, from the moment you are looking to set up a sustainable chain up until the aftercare when your product is already in stores. We can help you with an exploratory research and address practical and logistical preparations, agreements with chain actors, as well as the realisation and follow-up of ongoing chain operations (such as communication, optimisation, …).

Business Lab Colonia - Consorcio
Coffee team project

We go the extra mile for innovative pilot projects

For innovative chains that we develop together, we go the extra mile and jointly look for funding for the start-up and testing phases.

Developing a chain with Rikolto in 5 steps

1. Intake conversation

We start with an intake conversation. As a customer, you can clarify your expectations. We will discuss which sustainability strategy and/or products are most appropriate and whether or not it is advisable to work with certification.

2. Feasibility study

In an initial research phase, we do a desk research into the feasibility and potential of the chain, by checking in with our network and colleagues in the field. We check the interest of various chain actors and specifically farmer organisations. We check the sustainability of current production and whether there are any “hot issues" in terms of environmental or social factors in the region (due diligence check). We apply the sustainability tool we have developed to look into environmental factors.

3. Collaboration agreement

We will discuss the role of the different chain players, to come to an agreement that is interesting for each of the chain players. At this stage, we also recommend to visit the product’s region of origin together, so all chain players get to know the project and the possible challenges. This procedure may seem like a big investment, but in our experience, these visits are essential for the stakeholder motivation and hence, the success of the chain project. It is also at this stage that the business plan will be strengthened, KPIs will be defined and logistical options will be finetuned.

4. Implementation

After signing the informal collaboration agreement, we proceed to the implementation of the chain.

5. Follow-up

Our support does not end once your product is in stores. We continue to support and monitor various aspects of the chain to ensure quality and to optimise the chain. Additionally, we offer communication support.

6 principles that define inclusive and sustainable value chains

  1. Cooperation between all actors in the chain with a common goal
  2. Close relationship between all chain actors, leading to a stable market and constant supply
  3. Fair and transparent agreements and policies (labour conditions, fair prices, good working conditions)
  4. Fair access to services, such as credit, technical support in the field, market information, etc...
  5. Inclusive innovation and co-creation: innovation driven by multi-actor collaboration
  6. Measuring results and outcomes; ongoing monitoring to optimise the value chain and follow up
Inclusive Businesses at Rikolto

Track record

How do you build trustworthy relationships between farmers and food companies? Rikolto facilitates the use of the LINK methodology (developed by CIAT) to bring all value chain actors together.

Read more about the LINK methodology

Discover examples of inclusive value chain collaborations that Rikolto has brokered:

Contact us

Don’t hesitate to mail me. We’ll be glad to give you additional information.

Marianne Vergeyle

marianne.vergeyle@rikolto.org