As a 2027 Leadership Circle supplier, Bonipak is using the Ethical Charter Implementation Program (ECIP) to extend decades of responsible labor practices beyond its own operations and into the growers and labor providers that support it.
Ryan Reed, Executive Vice President Human Resources & Compliance, describes Bonipak as a people company. Madelyn Edlin from the ECIP team sat down with Reed to talk about what recognition has meant internally, what a dashboard can’t show about worker engagement, and what he’d tell a supplier who is just getting started with ECIP.Â
Bonipak has been growing in the Santa Maria Valley for decades. How has the way you think about labor practices and worker engagement changed over that time?
Our commitment to our employees is longstanding. We are a people company, and that has been true throughout Bonipak’s history in the Santa Maria Valley. What has changed over the last couple of decades is the environment around that commitment and, as a result, where we focus our attention. Three shifts stand out.
First, operating in California, we have experienced a significant overhaul of regulatory requirements. Expectations around wages, working conditions and compliance have grown steadily, requiring everybody operating in California to be more deliberate and better documented in how they manage labor practices. In many ways, ECIP is a continuation of that evolution.
Second, technology has changed how we work. It has created some additional challenges, but it has also created many opportunities to manage, communicate and verify things more effectively. For example, we have worked with our core growers and labor providers on making sure that employees have ample methods to communicate questions or concerns from disparate locations. Technology has helped to increase our avenues for employee connectivity.
Finally, because of those first two shifts, we have naturally broadened our focus from our direct workforce to our down-line operations: the growers, labor providers and partners whose work supports ours. Much of the work that affects people in our supply chain happens outside our own walls, and that is where ECIP really shines. It gives us a structured way to engage with those operations.
What does Bonipak’s approach to its workforce look like beyond the engagement profile?
ECIP has been a meaningful part of this journey in two ways. First, it prompted introspection for us as well as our core partners. Working through the program required us to step back and take an honest look at our own practices, what is working well and where we can improve. Second, it gave us visibility through the core parts of our supply chain. Rather than assuming how labor practices are managed beyond our direct operations, we now have a clearer, shared picture of where our core partners stand and how we can support them. A dashboard can show participation, assessments and milestones, but it cannot fully show the relationships behind that progress.
What may not be obvious is how interconnected our workforce is across the operation. From farming and harvesting to cooling, processing, shipping, sales and administration, decisions in one area affect people in many others. Worker engagement is not limited to one policy or annual training. It is built through day-to-day communication, problem-solving and the knowledge employees bring from their own roles.
Sometimes suppliers can find ECIP LAB a little confusing, especially as the criteria change with each engagement cycle. What would you tell a supplier who’s looking at the requirements and feeling behind?
Understand where you are today and begin working through the requirements one at a time. Ask questions early. Make use of the guidance and support available through ECIP, and involve the people within your organization who actually manage labor practices. This cannot sit with one person who is simply trying to complete a profile.
I would also be honest with your partners about what you know and what you are still working to understand. You do not have to have everything perfected before engaging them. Starting the conversation and establishing clear ownership are meaningful first steps.
You were recognized by Sam’s Club at last year’s Leadership Circle Celebration, and you’re in the 2027 Leadership Circle this year. What has that recognition meant internally, for your team and your growers?
It has felt like validation of work that our teams have put in over many years, without much visibility or recognition. The recognition has been meaningful because it reflects work that happens across many parts of our operation. It is not something that can be accomplished by one department or by checking a single box.
Internally, it has given us an opportunity to recognize that work and reinforce why it matters. For ourselves and our core partners, it demonstrates that the effort put into labor-management systems is visible and valued by the customers we collectively serve.
We also view it as encouragement to continue improving. The goal is not simply to earn a designation. Our focus on our people is longstanding, began long before any program and will continue regardless of external recognition. It is about building responsible labor practices into the way we and our growers do business, because that is who we have always been as a people company.
