Barilla Sustainable Sourcing Guidelines and Supplier Code: Establish agricultural emissions disclosure, regenerative farming alignment and procurement-driven Scope 3 governance

What’s Required

Barilla’s framework functions as a procurement-driven private regulatory system, embedding environmental and climate requirements into sourcing contracts, agricultural programs, and supplier performance management.

The architecture integrates:

• Supplier Code of Conduct (contractual baseline compliance).

• Sustainable Sourcing Guidelines (commodity-specific environmental requirements).

• Agricultural engagement and improvement programs.

This creates a farm-to-product governance system, regulating both upstream agricultural practices and downstream industrial supply.

1. Emissions Management and Agricultural Decarbonization

Suppliers and agricultural producers are required or expected to:

• Monitor and reduce environmental impacts, including energy use and emissions.

• Implement climate-smart agricultural practices.

• Improve efficiency in production and resource use.

While explicit universal carbon targets are not imposed at the farm level, Barilla requires:

• Measurement of environmental performance.

• Adoption of practices reducing emissions intensity.

• Alignment with regenerative agriculture principles.

For industrial suppliers, this translates into:

• Scope 1 and 2 emissions management.

• Increasing relevance to Scope 3 emissions linked to ingredients and processing.

2. Scope 3 Governance and Value Chain Integration

Barilla explicitly links supplier performance to its Scope 3 emissions profile.

Suppliers must:

• Provide data on emissions associated with raw materials and ingredients.

• Reduce emissions intensity in agricultural production and processing.

• Align practices with Barilla’s sustainability and climate commitments.

This creates a structural dependency:

• Agricultural emissions represent a significant share of Scope 3.

• Supplier performance directly affects Barilla’s carbon footprint.

This represents a commodity-driven Scope 3 governance model.

3. Sustainable Agriculture and Regenerative Practices

A defining feature of Barilla’s framework is its emphasis on sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Suppliers must:

• Adopt practices improving soil health and biodiversity.

• Reduce the use of chemical inputs where possible.

• Optimize water and resource use.

• Implement crop rotation and conservation techniques.

This creates a land-use and farming governance layer, where compliance affects:

• Agricultural emissions.

• Soil carbon sequestration.

• Long-term supply chain resilience.

Suppliers must align farming practices with defined sustainability criteria.

4. Environmental Data Systems and Traceability

Suppliers are required to:

• Provide environmental data through structured reporting and monitoring systems.

• Maintain traceability of raw materials.

• Support Barilla’s sustainability reporting.

This requires:

• Data collection at the farm and cooperative level.

• Standardized methodologies for environmental metrics.

• Ability to provide verifiable and auditable information.

Traceability is critical for:

• Tracking emissions and environmental impacts.

• Ensuring compliance with sourcing standards.

• Supporting corporate disclosures.

5. Audit, Verification, and Compliance Enforcement

Barilla enforces compliance through:

• Supplier assessments and audits.

• Agricultural program monitoring.

• Documentation reviews.

• Corrective action plans.

Suppliers must:

• Provide access to production data and facilities.

• Demonstrate compliance with sourcing standards.

• Address non-conformances within defined timelines.

This creates a verification-based compliance regime, although more relationship-driven in agricultural contexts.

6. Procurement Integration and Supplier Segmentation

Environmental performance is integrated into:

• Supplier selection and qualification.

• Long-term sourcing agreements.

• Performance evaluations.

Suppliers are segmented based on:

• Commodity type (e.g., wheat, durum wheat).

• Environmental and agricultural risk.

• Contribution to Scope 3 emissions.

High-impact suppliers, particularly in:

• Grain production.

• Ingredient processing.

• Packaging.

face:

• Increased data disclosure requirements.

• Stronger expectations for sustainable practices.

• Closer monitoring and engagement.

This creates a tiered governance system.

7. Upstream Cascade Requirements

Suppliers are expected to:

• Extend Barilla standards to farmers and upstream producers.

• Ensure compliance across agricultural supply chains.

• Maintain traceability and transparency.

This extends governance into multi-tier agricultural networks, including farms and cooperatives.

8. Lifecycle and Product-Level Implications

The framework directly influences:

• Raw material sourcing (grains, ingredients).

• Processing emissions.

• Product environmental footprint.

Supplier performance affects:

• Product carbon intensity.

• Land-use and biodiversity impacts.

• Corporate sustainability commitments.

This aligns supplier operations with product-level and corporate climate strategies.

Important Deadlines

Key timelines include:

• 2030 emissions reduction targets aligned with Barilla’s sustainability strategy.

• Annual reporting cycles.

• Continuous improvement milestones.

Suppliers are expected to demonstrate progressive alignment.

Current Status

The framework is active and evolving, with increasing emphasis on:

• Regenerative agriculture.

• Supply chain emissions transparency.

• Integration with climate commitments.

Barilla continues to strengthen supplier climate governance.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Enforcement is procurement-driven and includes:

• Corrective action requirements.

• Reduced sourcing volumes.

• Loss of preferred supplier status.

• Termination of supplier relationships.

This creates a direct link between environmental performance and commercial viability.

Examples of Known Violations

Typical failure modes include:

• Lack of traceability in agricultural sourcing.

• Non-compliance with sustainable farming practices.

• Incomplete environmental data.

• Failure to implement improvement measures.

• Weak upstream supplier oversight.

These failures impact supplier eligibility.

Resources

• https://www.barillagroup.com/en/sustainability/

• https://www.barillagroup.com/en/sustainability/value-chain/