Pharmactive Biotech Products SLU has unveiled its long-term sustainability programme, which emphasises fair-trade, boosting local women’s workforces, reducing energy consumption and waste through upcycling, and promoting crops that support biodiversity. The company has certified its Environmental Management System according to ISO 14001:2015.
The company says it is “cementing its sustainable sourcing and production protocols while conserving complete control of its supply channels” to continue providing its organic-certified botanicals. The company has secured two patents for its green extraction processes of its affron saffron extract and its ABG+ line of aged black garlic products.
As part of its environmental policy, the company has developed a long-term contract farming plan aimed to reinforce the local economy and workforce of remote areas of the Castille-La-Mancha region of Spain and promote Spanish culture heritage preservation.
The contract-farming support programme is designed to secure the income and livelihoods of the farmers living within the provinces of this sparsely populated region. In return, the farmers must commit to the traditional and ecological agricultural and harvesting practices delineated by the company.
“Spain is scattered with rural areas dubbed “empty Spain” owing to populations abandoning these towns to seek better employment opportunities within the larger metropolises,” said Julia Diaz, Head of Marketing for Pharmactive. “Castille is considered an important ancient agrarian cultural heritage site of Spain, yet it has been suffering from this ghost town syndrome. As a result, the government is pushing incentives to attract people to the region, and we have deployed our initiatives to try and help our government reverse the trend.”
Beyond its activities in negotiating attractive pay schemes and work contracts with the farmers, Pharmactive’s carefully devised programme essentially ensures that the farmers can sell their full harvest every year by creating demand. The company also works to promote employment prospects for women in the region.
Pharmactive has also certified its Environmental Management System to ISO standards. This certification endorses the company’s proactivity in ensuring its operations are eco-supportive.