Supplier participation in ECIP gives buyers visibility into the organization’s commitment to social responsibility, helping both the supplier and their connected growers to continuously improve and innovate—setting them apart in the market. By engaging with ECIP, suppliers respond to social responsibility priorities of key customers, demonstrating ongoing improvement and strengthening their position as a trusted supplier.
Supplier LAB
Buyers invite suppliers into ECIP LAB (Learn, Assess, Benchmark). After registering for an account and paying the annual subscription fee, users can add other additional users and invite growers.
Supplier LAB takes each principle of the Ethical Charter and breaks it down into a series of management systems required for effective implementation and offers Learn, Assess and Benchmark channels:
Learning resources, templates and best practices are provided for each management system.
The user is guided through statements on the principles of the Ethical Charter and asks the user to choose among 5 statements that assess the operation’s current status in that area.
As a user interacts with the system, a dashboard will begin to populate with the self assessment statements chosen.
In Supplier LAB, users will be asked to define the number of growers that make up their supply chain, access a host of resources to support growers align with the Ethical Charter, and answer a series of assessment questions. Users can then benchmark their progress and prioritize areas for improvement. As they progress through the assessment, invite growers and meet other milestones, an engagement profile is earned and shared with connected retail and food service customers.
Growers have a similar experience in Grower LAB, assessing their management systems, benchmarking their progress and prioritizing work to better align with the Ethical Charter. Connected suppliers will be able to see their progress in the platform and an engagement profile for each grower, but suppliers will not have access to grower self-ratings or other specific information.
Watch the video below to understand how a grower’s engagement with Grower LAB earns stars and contributes to their supplier’s engagement profile in Supplier LAB, ultimately creating a cumulative engagement profile on the Buyer Dashboard.
“As suppliers begin to self-assess their own management systems, it will allow us to better support them and their growers with additional tools and resources, and to ultimately recognize the suppliers who are most engaged in developing responsible labor practices.”
Jim Hancock, Vice President of Produce & Floral at Sam’s Club
Pricing Structure
To access ECIP LAB, each grower, supplier and buyer pays an annual subscription fee.
Suppliers’ fees are based on annual sales:
- Less than $10M: $1,800 per year
- $10-$50M: $3,600 per year
- $50-$250M: $6,000 per year
- $250-$999M: $7,200 per year
- More than $999M: $9,000 per year
Growers pay $200 per year. If they are certified to an approved certification program, their subscription fee is waived for as long as their certificate is valid.
Supplier Resources
Download a PDF on introducing ECIP to growers
Download a PDF on introducing ECIP to buyers
