A Look at Stonyfield’s Sourcing Values – “What’s In Our Cup?” Series

Responsible ingredient sourcing is in our DNA here at Stonyfield. It’s critical to everything we do. All of us – from our CE-Yo to our farmers to our sourcing teams – whole-heartedly believe that where our ingredients come from matters. We believe that the health of people, animals, and our planet matter. We believe the decisions we make matter. And, most importantly, we believe that sharing our sourcing story with you matters.

That’s why we’ve started this “What’s In Our Cup?” blog series. We want to shed light on how we select ingredients here at Stonyfield and to let you in on the thoughts that go into every sourcing decision we make. We take great pride in the process we go through to know our farmers, support our growers, and invest in food production that makes a difference and we thought it important to share that process with our community.

You trust us, and we take that very seriously. We buy our ingredients with care, based on a set of principles that improve the lives of our farmers, their communities and the planet. We continually go above and beyond to ensure the integrity of the organic label, food safety, fair labor, and sustainable practices for each ingredient that goes into our products.

What’s more, we buy from people, not just from companies. For us, it’s about partnering with our suppliers to ensure that each ingredient is sourced according to our guidelines. It’s about long-term relationships.

Here, good sourcing practices begin long before we put anything in your yogurt cup. They stem from a list of critical values, developed from our mission, that guide every sourcing decision we make.

The eight sourcing values we live by are:

1. We support the growth of organic, choosing the best organic ingredients so we can offer you the healthiest food possible.
2. We source from family farmers whom we know and trust.
3. We make sure to know where each ingredient comes from and are transparent about this to the public.
4. We source from farmers who use ecologically sustainable practices for the well-being of the planet—and we strive together for continuous improvement.
5. We support the humane treatment of the cows that provide us with milk to make our products:
6. We offer fair economic return and seek to create long-term relationships with our farmers and suppliers;
7. We support fairness on the farm, including a safe and healthy working environment, a living wage, and dignity for all workers;
8. From the farm to the cup, we work every day to reduce our carbon footprint.

We rely upon these values to ensure that our purchasing choices are—and will—continue reflecting who Stonyfield is and what we believe. These values hold us accountable to a healthier way of life.

So this is our “What’s in a Cup” start. Blog number one in a series of over ten. With each post we’ll take a deep dive into the individual sourcing values. You’ll meet some of the farmers, growers, and employees who are dedicated to making Stonyfield products worth eating and share more about where our ingredients come from.

We hope you’ll stick around for the farm to cup journey and share the posts with family and friends. After all, food just tastes better when you know the story of where it came from.

–Amy