This report (the “Report”) highlights the actions that Mastronardi Produce Limited (“Mastronardi Produce”) has taken to ensure that no forced labour, child labour nor modern slavery exist in Mastronardi’s operations and supply chain during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. The Report has been prepared pursuant to Section 11 of the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the “Act”). The use of the words “we”, “us” and “our” refers to Mastronardi Produce.
Mastronardi Produce is an Ontario based company with our corporate headquarters in Kingsville, Ontario Canada.
We supply fresh produce including many varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, and berries. We have both owned and contract growers in our supply chain and our produce is grown in the Americas and Europe.
To assess and mitigate risk, we require that each supplier facility, greenhouse, packhouse and distribution center location carry out an approved social compliance audit that covers Labour Standards, Health & Safety, Business Ethics and Environment. Using risk assessments and social audits enables Mastronardi Produce to identify potential areas of risk and non-compliance in our operations. In our risk assessments we have not identified any cases of forced or child labour.
The agricultural sector carries an inherent risk for forced labour in supply chains. The risks are strongest in:
We operate strictly in accordance with the legislation in the countries in which we operate, and our Mastronardi Code of Conduct requires that our suppliers do the same. Our policies and protections for workers are regularly reviewed, and we update them to provide additional protections to workers. Our policies include:
Our Due Diligence Includes:
Audits will verify the worksite and any accommodations to ensure that employment is freely chosen, child labour is not used, living wages are paid, working hours are not excessive, regular employment is provided, and no hard or inhuman treatment occurs.
Our employment practices that ensure no forced labour nor child labour is used include:
All suppliers have signed the Supplier Code of Conduct which forbids forced labour and child labour.
Mastronardi Produce employs a Social Compliance Director and a Social Compliance team, operating inside of the Compliance and Corporate Legal organizations, to ensure that all facilities are audited through appropriate schemes.
In 2024 all appropriate audits were completed for owned, operated and contracted facilities.
All Mastronardi Produce employees who are involved in human resources, assess labour and human rights risks or manage farm workers took the Mastronardi Produce updated Code of Conduct training. This training is mandatory for employees working in these aspects of our business.
We have not identified any lost income for vulnerable families resulting from our measures taken to eliminate the use of forced of child labour in our activities and supply chain. Should we identify any instances of this nature in the future, we will investigate and consider remediation plans appropriate to the circumstances and in accordance with international standards.
Mastronardi Produce did not find any instances of forced labour or child labour in operations or supplier operations in 2024. We continue to operate in accordance with our policies and best practices for labour, social compliance and health & safety. Mastronardi Produce has not yet taken any actions to assess the effectiveness of our policies and best practices and intends to do so at a later stage.
A copy of this Report is available in Public Safety Canada’s Forced Labour in Canadian Supply Chains Report Registry at Public Safety Canada. Additionally, this Report is posted on the Mastronardi Produce website.