Social audits will be carried out across Europe from 2027 onwards

We recognised that problems relating to social practices couldn’t be solved by simply relying on self-declarations or external social certifications, governed by standards that are far removed from ours. Time and again, we heard about the drawbacks. So, we realised how important it is to build up and maintain in-house expertise on working conditions and then to develop our own separate tool like the social audit. That’s the only way to tackle problems proactively.

There aren’t many organic associations in Europe that also conduct social audits and train the inspection staff themselves. Bio Suisse decided to take training into its own hands because this promotes and maintains direct contact with the various inspectors. There is no inspector who hasn’t been trained by us. At the same time, this direct contact is motivational: the inspectors can immediately see who’s behind the processes, can match the face to a name, and know that their direct feedback is noticed and implemented.

No less than 320 social audits were conducted in 2025, and most of the operations were very collaborative. Of course, it’s an additional inspection for them, which means extra effort. The social audits take place on the same day as the operations’ organic inspections and last two hours, so that they’re not excessive. Operations managers also receive a preparatory document in advance that details the process, the required documents, and other relevant information. Moreover, they see that all of Europe is heading in this direction – even in conventional agriculture, there are more and more social audits.

The social audits themselves also went very well. At about one-third of the operations, minor issues such as missing first aid kits or gloves for the workforce were identified. These deviations were then always rectified quickly. We found major deviations from our standards, such as violations of local employment law, at only about three per cent of operations.

Similarly, we’ve always found that operations managers are keen to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. They could decide not to take the necessary steps, to forgo Bio Suisse certification, and instead export their products to a country that doesn’t conduct social audits. Initially, we were somewhat worried about this scenario. In practice, however, we can see that it’s worthwhile for operations to implement the relevant measures and continue to supply the Swiss market.

So far, we’ve introduced the audits step by step: in the first year, we focused on Spain and, in the following two years, we also concentrated on Italy, in addition to Spain. The reason for this slower roll-out is that we wanted to learn from experience so we could further optimise our processes before taking bigger steps. Now they have been rolled out across Turkey, Greece, and France this year, the first major step is on the horizon.

In 2027, our plan is to implement social audits throughout Europe, and in 2028 in all 80 countries around the globe where Bio Suisse Organic operations are located. For logistical reasons, the training courses take place online using a specially developed tool. The inspectors independently work through the content in seven interactive modules. Their progress is checked with exam questions that must be successfully completed in order to proceed to the next module. The entire training course lasts approximately one working day.

So, there are exciting times ahead: we’re expecting to have to deal with an enormous variety of contexts and operational realities. For example, we haven’t yet had to deal with the issue of child labour during audits in Europe. In the Global South, the situation could be somewhat different, so we must then act accordingly and find solutions. The greatest challenge lies in designing a uniform social audit model that works worldwide and aligns with local contexts.

We’re very confident about the future. We can see that the social audits are working very well: the inspectors do an excellent job with implementing the audits and their inspections are very high quality. The operations cooperate well, most deviations are not serious and any rectifications are always implemented quickly and correctly. Every participant in the social audit system is encouraged to learn from them, and so far it’s working very well.