HKScan Finland, Kesko, Arla Finland and Unilever Finland have together signed a pledge to use only responsibly produced soy in collaboration with WWF Finland.

All the signatories are committed to ensuring that the soy used throughout their production chain will be responsibly produced by 2020.

HKScan has previously announced that the soy used throughout the production chain of the group will be responsibly produced by the end of 2018. HKScan Sweden has implemented this already during 2014–2015.

The new Finnish soy pledge covers both the domestic production chain and imported soy. All soy must be certified at its point of origin by an accredited third-party certification body. Certification concerns both the origin of soy and the production chain. To gain certification, the producer must meet over 100 criteria including regular audits of their environmental performance, cooperation with the local community and working conditions. The soy is not allowed to be farmed in nature conservation areas or on land that is important for the perseveration of biodiversity. The RTRS and ProTerra responsible soy production certificates significantly reduce the environmental impacts of soy cultivation by preventing the conversion of natural and endangered habitats into farming land.

The signatories of the Finnish pledge are an open group of voluntary stakeholders. Its founding members are HKScan Finland, Kesko, Arla Suomi and Unilever Finland, with the support of WWF Finland.

Soy production has environmental and social impacts

Soy is one of the world’s most widely cultivated crops in the world today. It is used as an ingredient in many foodstuffs and as a component in livestock feed in the meat industry.

Soy is an important protein source in animal feed. Commitment to using responsibly produced soy is a key part of sustainable meat production, responding to stakeholders’ expectations of high standards of ethical responsibility throughout the entire meat value chain.

The continual expansion of soy cultivation has considerable environmental impacts particularly in South America. These include deforestation, increased greenhouse gas emissions, depletion of biodiversity and soil erosion. Soy farming is also reported to be associated with social problems such as deprivation of land from local farmers and remuneration of workers below minimum wages.

The RTRS supports sustainable, responsible soy cultivation

The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) is an international multi-stakeholder initiative that was established to promote sustainable soy production and ethical responsibility throughout the soy production chain. HKScan joined the RTRS in 2014. HKScan Sweden is a member of Svenska Sojadialogen, the Swedish equivalent to the Finnish responsible soy group.

For further details:

Pia Nybäck, Vice President, Quality and Sustainability, HKScan Group
Kindly submit a callback request via Aino Pajukangas, VP Communications HKScan Finland, tel. +358 10 570 2242, aino.pajukangas(at)hkscan.com


HKScan is the leading Nordic meat expert. We produce, market and sell high-quality, responsibly-produced pork, beef, poultry and lamb products, processed meats and convenience foods under strong brand names. Our customers are the retail, food service, industrial and export sectors, and our home markets comprise Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Baltics and Poland. We export close to 50 countries. In 2015, HKScan had net sales of EUR 1.9 billion and some 7 400 employees.