São Marcelo: The business case for a landscape approach to sustainable beef production in Brazil
After over thirty years of strong supplier engagement, cattle ranch and family business São Marcelo is seeking to support the increase in production of sustainable, zero-deforestation, traceable beef in order to meet customer demand for such products.
General manager, Daniel Eijsink, said that there is a need to fully buy from legal growers. This has been happening for the past 24 years. Furthermore, he added: “It has been difficult for us to increase our supply base because, typically, in the region, what happens is that you can only check the direct seller, not the previous people they have bought from. It is a problem because other farms do not have traceability like we do. It is better for us for all the region to be approved, so anything from the region can be assured.”
To meet customer demand for beef that is sustainably produced, traceable and that is deforestation-free, São Marcelo is engaging in a landscape approach. This is done via Produce, Conserve, Include (PCI) regional compact convened by IDH in the Juruena Valley, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Compact seeks to transform the region into a verified sourcing area for cattle and family agriculture products, through public and private partnership and engagement, generating income for the local population while conserving forests.
Impact:
Desired impacts and further goals can be seen in the following business case.