Mr. Vanus Taepaisitphongse, Chief Executive Officer of Betagro Group, along with executive management from the Group, and Mr. Mark Taylor, Issara Institute Director of Strategy & Global Partnerships, along with the Issara Business & Human Rights team formalize collaboration to advance working conditions and sustainable labour management practices.
“Your Voice, We Care” is Betagro’s flagship program for long-term labour development and problem solving, using worker voice as a valuable resource for driving sustainable change. Betagro will be collaborating with Issara Institute to kick off the initiative, initially as a pilot. This project will advance Betagro’s pre-established labour standards, which are in line with both Thai law and international labour standards, and support Issara’s objective to advance working conditions and worker rights in Thailand through business partnership.
The Issara Institute’s Inclusive Labour Monitoring model is a worker voice-driven approach to support supply chain transparency and supplier strengthening. It provides ongoing monitoring of workplace conditions to identify and address labour risk through technology and supplier collaboration, rather than a point-in-time audit approach. The aim of the pilot is to strengthen labour management practices in participating sites across the Betagro supply chain, providing benefits to workers and business. The collaboration will also enable Betagro employees and its supplier’s employees with access to Issara’s independent worker voice channels, including its 24/7 multilingual helpline, Golden Dreams migrant worker smartphone app, and Issara personal messaging options such as LINE, Viber and Facebook Messenger. These channels allow migrant workers to confidentially share questions and feedback to Issara, who, in collaboration with Betagro and its suppliers, work to bring tangible and sustainable improvements to the poultry sector.
Vanus Taepaisitphongse, Betagro Group’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Betagro attaches a lot of importance to promoting a better quality of life for our employees, business partners and customers. Our staff is the driving force behind Betagro’s organizational growth, thus we are committed to improving labor management and standards across our entire supply chain. Through working closely with the Issara Institute to launch the “Your Voice, We Care” project, Betagro is certain that labor management across its entire supply chain will continue to be improved. The incorporation of Issara’s independent worker voice channels will allow workers to be heard and solutions to the concerns be made; it will bridge the communication gap between the workers and Betagro Human Resources and management. Throughout the coming years, Betagro will continue to work to improve labour standards within the Thai poultry industry.”
Mark Taylor, Director of Strategy & Global Partnerships at Issara Institute, stated, “The Issara team works closely with both Thai businesses and global brands, retailers and importers, to strengthen supply chains and working conditions.
Issara is looking forward to the Betagro collaboration and to implementing the Inclusive Labour Monitoring model across their poultry supply chain. The use of Inclusive Labour Monitoring empowers workers to confidentially ask questions or report any issues to Issara Institute, which will then work with Betagro to address them. This program will initially be rolled out in Betagro’s first tier of suppliers but will eventually be present in lower tiers comprising subcontractors and outsourced farms. We are pleased to be working with proactive businesses like Betagro Group and see this collaboration as an opportunity to not only empower thousands of workers within one the country’s leading agricultural businesses, but to also raise industry awareness and standards more broadly.”
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Issara Team meet the migrant workers to introduces Your Voice, We Care Project and Issara’s independent worker voice channels at Betagro Meat Processing Plant, B. Food Products International Co., Ltd., Phatthana Nikhom, Lopburi.
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About Betagro Group
Betagro Group is one of the country's leaders in integrated agricultural business covering animal feed, livestock, animal health products as well as quality food products for export and domestic use. The Group is committed to meeting the different needs of consumers under the corporate vision “Quality for Life”. Backed by a range of internationally recognised products as well as its global reputation in quality and food safety, more multinational food manufacturers have partnered with Betagro to produce food products for export to many developed markets such as Japan, the UK, Hong Kong, the EU and Scandinavian countries.
About Issara Institute
Issara Institute is an independent NGO (U.S. 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation) based in Asia tackling issues of human trafficking and forced labour through data, technology, partnership, and innovation. People - including worker voice and feedback - are at the center of Issara’s data and intelligence work.
