The &Wider Podcast

Earlier this year, there were revelations on the burden of travel costs and the exorbitant recruitment fees imposed on migrant seasonal labourers working on UK farms. In this episode, we talk with Managing Director Kenton Harmer from the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) to discuss their experience in identifying and addressing the challenge of recruitment fees and responsible recruitment practices affecting migrant farm workers in the US and Canada.

Find out more about the EFI

How does public data fit into your due diligence process? Because of the digital revolution, there has been an incredible proliferation of public data in recent years. It can be difficult to keep up with the huge amounts available online, and even more difficult to know its immense value in contributing to your responsible sourcing and supply chain monitoring. We chat with Sayari about the power of public data and the insight it can give you about the places and people you are doing business with.

Check out Sayari https://bit.ly/3lKn6vQ 

This is part two of the conversation we had last week with the Sustainable Links consultancy. Today we talk about how to drum up excitement about due diligence, the due diligence tools available and how to integrate those tools with each other and with the broader strategy, and whether visionary leadership is necessary in recruiting motivation for addressing supply chain issues. 

What does proper due diligence practically require from a company, and what is a good place to start for a company looking to getting going with due diligence along their supply chain? In this episode of the &Wider podcast, we are joined by Madeleine Koalick and Gwendolyn Remmert from Sustainable Links, a consultancy focused on embedding human rights due diligence and responsible sourcing within companies, to talk us through the practical requirements of due diligence, along with the effects such laws are having on due diligence and human rights globally.

On our third and final installment between our conversation between Lea Esterhuizen of &Wider and Federica Suess of Etika, we continue our conversation about How smaller companies can tackle human rights and address the new due diligence requirements by looking at what to prioritised when it comes to addressing the new requirements, discussing what impact the German due diligence law will have on companies and business practices not just in Germany but globally. Enjoy.

Find out more about Etika here

On the second installment of our conversation with Lea Esterhuizen and Federica Suess, Lea breaks down the passive and active elements of grievance mechanisms and how we can design these systems to allow workers to safely use them. Lea and Federica also talk practical steps on how smaller companies can be supported to conduct due diligence in their supply chains.

Find out more about Etika here

On the first of this three part conversation, Lea Esterhuizen, founder and CEO of &Wider is in conversation with Federica Suess, co-founder of Etika, a Management Consulting firm based in Germany and Belgium. Etika offers a helpdesk, tailored training programs, e-learnings and templates that assist companies on their sustainability journey, and on this conversation the two founders trace the changes in the types of laws being used to drive ethical practices in global supply chains.

Find out more about Etika here

We speak to EFI Managing Director Kenton Harmer about the key changes that still need to be made throughout the recruitment process on fresh produce farms, along with the changes he has witnessed around labour practices over the years, and the impact of COVID-19 on the leadership and ethical practices on these farms.

Find out more about the EFI Recruitment Scorecard

How have laws related to due diligence changed over the past 5 years, and how can brands start when it comes to addressing these requirements? Founder and CEO of Ardea International, Colleen Theron chats to us about her one wish and hope relating to forced labour in 2021.

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&Wider is a worker voice or worker engagement provider, offering companies a direct line to the workers in their own workplaces through mobile engagement. We use our online platform to monitor working conditions through employee satisfaction surveys.

Find out more about &Wider

If food is at the basis for human dignity, then surely access to sufficient and nutritious food for those how who wish to have it, must be an indictor of how well the economy is structured?