By Danielle Solis, Communications Specialist for The Maschhoffs
In today’s food production industry, consumers need assurances. While the specific assurances vary by the consumer, the general request is the same: “Are producers doing things the right way when it comes to the way food is produced?”
Those of us in pork production know the questions center around two main areas: animal welfare and environmental stewardship.
To help become more transparent with pork consumers across the U.S., The Maschhoffs completed its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report. This report sets a benchmark on some of the most important areas of our business and will be used as a waypoint on the journey to help measure, report and verify progress in the future. Being a socially responsible company holds a multitude of benefits, including bolstering a company’s image, boosting employee morale, and demonstrating our environmental stewardship to consumers and in our communities.
We structured the report to follow our core values: people and partners; animal and environmental stewardship; innovation and customer focus. Core values are what makes a business unique. For us, our pork is much more than just a commodity. A CSR report positions an organization as a leader in the community and a positive role model for others to follow suit. Not only does it deliver a built-in report card of trust to use as a waypoint through progression, but it culminates a storytelling tool about how a company operates, and for us, how we care for our people and pigs.
Attract and Retain Employees and Partners
Embracing socially responsible policies goes a long way toward attracting and retaining employees and partners. It’s proven employees enjoy working more for a company that has a good public image than one that doesn’t. The same is said about partnerships with our producers. America’s pig farmers are committed to improving the environment and our communities.
What’s In It for Me?
As a pork producer, you might be asking yourself, how can this report benefit me? This report is the first step in the journey to benchmark performance and drive continuous improvements. It provides an opportunity to engage with producers and celebrate the practices they implement to raise pigs in a sustainable, safe manner.
Socially responsible companies cultivate positive brand recognition, increased consumer loyalty and attract top-tier employees. We accept the responsibility to take care of our people, pigs, environment and communities by bringing our core values to life through our actions every day. What we look forward to the most is the chance to share more about our progress in the future, and better yet, set the tone for other producers and companies who share the same passion.
A Social Responsibility Journey
For those considering embarking on a similar project, remember this is a journey. There will be aspects of your business that have come a long way. Others will need continued focus for more improvement. Perfection is unobtainable. A commitment to continually doing better is not.
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