Latha Lakshmanan
German Servente
Maharishi University of Management
Dennis Heaton
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Changing sustainable food production in the world one farm at a time through testing and certification services.
For a small company created in Fairfield, Iowa the Global ID group has taken leaps and bounds to have a big impact in such a key industry as sustainable agriculture. Its Genetic ID business, started in 1996, provides food safety and food integrity testing services, including testing for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Global ID has introduced the ProTerra standard for sustainable and socially responsible agriculture in the soy industry. The ProTerra standard is based on the BASEL criteria which originated in Europe. The intention behind the BASEL criteria was to explore ways of buying soy without the environmental impact of deforestation of the Amazon rainforests. In addition to this, the criteria also wanted to prevent child labor; ensure workers’ rights and community rights.
In our in-depth conversation with Ken Ross, CEO of Global ID Group, he shared the following: “Based on the BASEL criteria, the Global ID group was the first to develop a certification standard in 2006 and today we certify about 4 million metric tons of soy annually not only based on the BASEL criteria (which is inclusive of Non-Genetically Modified), but also ensuring socially responsible and sustainable production.” Mr. Ross continued on to say “Soy is drawn from about 6000 farms in Brazil and we are proud to be the world’s dominant provider of sustainable certification in the soy industry globally. We are also ranked as the 10th largest organization in agriculture sustainability by land acreage in the world.”
Founder John Fagan had a vision for a healthier food supply chain and followed his passion in 1996. His founding efforts to standardize the growth of certain crops without destroying the environment has contributed to the growth of what is now a family of companies that provide valuable food safety and quality testing and certification solutions in the rapidly advancing global food industry.
Looking back at his journey to taking on the role of CEO, Ken Ross recalled “When I was asked to be the CEO of this company I was excited to have the combination of to being able to do good in the world but also have a profitable, healthy company – because I think you really need to do both.” Global ID defines their mission as supporting the production of safe, ethical, and sustainable food. The CEO spoke further in detail about their path: “We’re really involved in helping companies map and understand their global food supply chain(s) and then be able to measure the compliance of the different elements of their supply chain to the policies/criteria they consider to be important. This allows organizations to control their level of involvement whether it be with a direct supplier or a grower that is 10 levels down in their supply chain. We offer services to support their vision for their company.” As the ProTerra standard continues to gain traction the future of Global ID is doing more work related to supply chain compliance through its software development. They have currently expanded into sugar and other crop categories. International expansion and acquisitions are growing at a constant pace to keep up with the radically changing desires of consumer demand for sustainable food.
Global ID Group assists companies in understanding compliance in the constantly evolving landscape that dominates the global food economy. This coupled with the growing demand of consumers interested in sustainable food products has contributed to shifting the growth of Global ID to the fast track. Their services range from food certification, pathogen and food authenticity testing, advisory and software services, and food safety/quality solutions consulting. The firm provides these services through their proprietary software that addresses appropriate compliance for product/supply chain based on global standards. Global ID Group currently serves more than 15,000 clients in over 100 countries. Their fast growth coupled with consistent profitability has allowed for territorial expansion and synergistic acquisitions worldwide.
Certification under the ProTerra standard helps support livelihoods on 6000 farms in Brazil that are certified under this standard. These farms receive a premium for their crops from their buyers, resulting in increased revenue. In addition, these farmers are educated by Global ID on better practices to minimize pesticide usage; water waste, and other items related to the 150 different criteria contained within the ProTerra standard.
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