Modern slavery statement

Modern slavery statement for financial year 2020

This statement is made pursuant to s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that Rondanini UK Ltd has taken and is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.
Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. Rondanini UK Ltd has a zero tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

Our business
Rondanini UK is a family run business that takes pride in importing high quality food products to the UK supplying leading retailers and valued restaurant chains. We have an operation in Italy and we have 46 suppliers that with work in collaboration with to achieve high standards in produce and ethical trading.

We recognise that our business has collective responsibilities in the way that we operate and, specifically, in which organisations we choose to do business with. As an organisation, we must ensure that all businesses we deal with honour the following principles.

  • Employment should be freely chosen
  • Workers should have freedom of association
  • Workers rights to collective bargaining are respected
  • Working conditions should be safe and hygienic, and a Health and
  • Safety policy should be in place
  • Child labour must not be used
  • Minimum wage requirements are met
  • Discrimination should not tolerated
  • Workers are not subjected to harsh or inhumane treatment
  • Workers are trained and developed as appropriate
  • Quality Policies are in place and are adhered to
  • Equal Opportunities Policies are in place and are adhered to

Our high risk areas
All suppliers that source from high risk countries are asked to join Sedex. Sedex is a non profit organisation dedicated to driving improvements in responsible and ethnical practices in global supply chains. In addition, during own our audits our technical teams are required to engage and have visibility over seasonal workers. We also ensure that these sites audit their own agencies.

Our policies
We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:

  1. Anti-slavery policy. This policy sets out the organisation’s stance on modern slavery and explains how employees can identify any instances of this and where they can go for help.
  2. Recruitment policy. We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
  3. Grievance policy. We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
  4. Code of business conduct. This code explains the manner in which we behave as an organisation and how we expect our employees and suppliers to act.
  5. Equal Opportunities Policy. This policy makes clear Rondanini’s commitment to equal opportunities, non-discriminatory procedures and practices.
  6. Minimum Wage Policy. This policy states that we aim to ensure that all employees receive the statutory guidelines for Minimum wage.
  7. Health and Safety Policy. This policy outlines Rondanini’s commitment to the management of health and safety.
  8. Data protection Policy. This policy states our commitment to the data protection principles and ensures we control how personal information is used responsibly within our organisation.

Our suppliers
Rondanini UK Ltd operates a supplier policy and maintains a preferred supplier list. We conduct due diligence on all suppliers before allowing them to become a preferred supplier. This due diligence includes an online search to ensure that particular organisation has never been convicted of offenses relating to modern slavery and on site audits which include a review of working conditions and practices. Our anti-slavery policy forms part of our contract with all suppliers and they are required to confirm that no part of their business operations contradicts this policy.

In addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we require that they confirm to us that:

  1. They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business
  2. They hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery
  3. For UK based suppliers that they pay their employees at least the national minimum wage / national living wage (if applicable)
  4. For international suppliers that they pay their employees any prevailing minimum wage applicable within their country of operations
  5. We may terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light.

Training
We conduct training for our teams so that they understand the signs of modern slavery and what to do if they suspect that it is taking place within our supply chain.

Our performance indicators
We will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain if:

  • No reports are received from employees, the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices have been identified.