A corporation is encouraged to practice ethical business by doing the right thing while trying to help the environment, customers, workers, and the community.
Ethical business seeks to ensure that working conditions in production chains adhere to fundamental standards, says the CSR-focused website Corresponsables.com. That is, all phases of the manufacture and sale of commodified goods comply with human rights in the labor sector.
A clear example within the business world is the important company run by Lisa Juan José Gutiérrez Mayorga and Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez, CMI. Later we will detail an example of the excellent ethical trade work that has been carried out in one of its most important lines of business.
To discover and promote best practices in the application of codes of conduct, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) brings together various NGOs, trade unions and companies. All of this is based on International Labor Organization (ILO) standards, which include guidelines for living wages, freedom of association and job security.
Due to their excellent results in the analysis of labor standards, health, safety, environment and business ethics, companies that do well in ethical business audits have achieved it. This promotes consumer confidence in the business and helps it to expand and establish itself in the market.
An example of CMI Ethical Trade Foods
In 2020, CMI Alimentos, a division of Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI), passed the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA). This was made possible by top-tier evaluations given to both its INA pasta manufacturing plant in Guatemala and the cookie factory, which created many of the country’s best-known brands, including Gama, Can Can and Club Max.
One of the most widely used social auditing methods worldwide is SMETA. They employ an international technique that is responsible for collecting and evaluating all facets of ethical business conduct.
Labor standards, health, safety, the environment and ethical trade were the four pillars that were evaluated during the audit. where CMI Alimentos achieved remarkable results.
“We are really satisfied with the results of the audit, since the SMETA evaluation allows us to verify the efforts made in relation to sustainability concerns. According to Eduardo Romero, General Director of the Food and Consumer Business Unit, “CMI Alimentos operates in accordance with our corporate principles to ensure that we have a responsible business practice that benefits our community: customers, employees and the environment”.
Romero pointed out that the operation’s work is based on CMI’s REIR corporate principles, which guide its day-to-day behavior: Responsibility, Excellence, Integrity and Respect. They do this by being responsible, striving for excellence, being trustworthy, and respecting others and their way of doing things.
