A leading agricultural group has earned two accreditations for its progress in embodying sustainability in its practices.

Cefetra, which has a site in Chipping Norton, has received both the ISO 14001 and a renewed gold status by EcoVadis.

The group is considered a market leader in the animal nutrition and food and drink ingredient sectors.

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ISO 14001 is considered the globally established standard for environmental management systems, acknowledging organisations that take active measures to minimise their environmental footprint.

It covers all aspects, from resource usage levels and waste management, to monitoring environmental performance and stakeholder involvement.

EcoVadis, an international sustainability accreditation company, renewed Cefetra's gold status.

First given in December 2022, the medal positions the group in the top five per cent of companies for commitment to enhancing sustainability in practices.

The assessment considers an organisation's environmental, social, and ethical performance.

Commercial, quality and health & safety & sustainability manager Sarah Bell said: "We are pleased to see Cefetra's drive to reduce its environmental impact be recognised with a growing number of accreditations, which reflects the increased work by the team.

"As a supplier to leading brands in the animal nutrition and food and drink sector, we take seriously our responsibilities around providing ethical and sustainable products and services to meet their standards, while working with a range of farmers and producers who want to play their part."

The honours came after the introduction of Cefetra Ecosystem Services in November, which is the first programme to set high standards for climate-positive supply chains while rewarding farmers for sustainable farming practices.

It hopes to bridge the gap between customers looking for sustainable suppliers and farmers searching for financial returns on sustainable practices.

In collaboration with Soil Capital, an agronomy firm, Cefetra Ecosystem Services offers products and services based on each farm’s data combined with advised courses of action.

This guarantees a carbon programme compliant with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), providing farmers and customers with trustworthy sustainability standards.

Ms Bell added: "We are proud to help our suppliers and customers achieve their goals and will continue to play a growing role setting new standards in agriculture across all our sites."