Supply Chain
Responsibility

Supporting a Diverse Supplier Base

The Supplier Diversity & Inclusion (SD&I) program at Altria is not owned by one employee; but all employees. Our SD&I department sets the strategy and partners with national and local certification agencies, such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (VAHCC), the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), the National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC), DisabilityIN, the Tri-State Minority Supplier Development Council (TSMSDC), serving Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, WBEC GREATER DMV, Altria's Employee Resource Groups and a network of Supplier Diversity champions across Altria's Family of Companies to drive progress towards our goal to increase overall diverse supplier spend.

Altria tracks and reports Tier 1 and Tier II diverse spend. Altria strongly prefers national and regionally certified suppliers and assists those who are not certified to obtain their certification. If you are currently an Altria supplier and are not certified, a Supplier Diversity Attestation Form can be submitted to supportsupplierdiversity@altria.com to attest to your designation.

The goods and services provided by diverse suppliers has helped Altria become and remain an industry leader. To maintain that leadership position, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and to advancing diversity throughout our supply chain. We believe a more diverse and inclusive supplier base will drive innovation, increase competition and provide greater supply chain flexibility.

For questions regarding Supplier Diversity, please email supportsupplierdiversity@altria.com.

Visit our 2019 Corporate Responsibility Progress Report to Learn More

Communicating our Expectations

We communicate expectations for our suppliers through Altria's Supplier Code of Conduct, Tobacco Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Supplemental Guidelines and our contracts. Our Supplier Code of Conduct addresses compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. The Code covers topics such as non-discrimination, non-retaliation, child and forced labor, environmental compliance and workplace safety.

Our Tobacco GAP Program Supplemental Guidelines, communicated to our over 1,800 tobacco growers in 2019 through handouts and one-on-one conversations with Altria Grower Representatives, highlight our expectations for our contracted growers on topics like using registered farm labor contractors and respecting their worker’s rights to join or not to join a union. 

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Assessing Supplier Performance & Requiring Suppliers to Remediate Findings

Our monitoring programs assess our suppliers' compliance with our expectations and contracts. These programs encourage continuous improvement, help identify areas for greater focus, and if needed, remediation. Altria's tobacco companies conduct third-party audits of direct packaging and product materials suppliers, domestic contracted growers, international leaf suppliers and contract manufacturers where there's significant country risk, supplier criticality, brand risk and where we can improve supply chain compliance. 

In 2019, we concluded the final year of a three-year assessment cycle during which 100 percent of contracted growers were assessed at least once, either by our internal GAP Assessment Program or the GAP Connections Certification Program. Because of our growers’ participation in the GAP Connections Certification Program, in the last two years of the three-year assessment cycle, we exceeded our own expectations to assess one-third of the grower base annually.

Internationally, we employ a third-party assessor to conduct social compliance audits using a risk-based approach for our direct packaging and product materials suppliers as well as our tobacco suppliers, who source through direct relationships with growers. These audits monitor for adherence to specific elements of our contracts and Supplier Code of Conduct, including workplace practices like child and forced labor, worker registration and compensation, workplace safety, management of employee records and environmental practices. Any supplier factory that has a finding is required to develop a corrective action plan and provide evidence of plan implementation. In 2019, third-party assessors completed 100 percent of planned International direct packaging, product materials and tobacco supplier audits there were no findings of child labor.

In addition to this third-party assessment process, in 2019, we began participating in the Sustainable Tobacco Programme 1.2, an industry-wide initiative managed by AB Sustain, a third-party supply chain management organization which assesses international tobacco suppliers and growers against Good Agricultural Practices standards. 

When Ste. Michelle learns of supplier non-compliance, they notify the supplier and expect it to take corrective actions. In some situations, Ste. Michelle takes a continuous improvement approach and works with the supplier to improve its practices. In other cases, Ste. Michelle requires immediate action to achieve compliance, or the company terminates its relationship. In addition, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates works to improve labor standards and requirements with its growers and trade organizations, including the Washington Winegrowers Association.

Visit our 2019 Corporate Responsibility Progress Report to Learn More

Engaging with Stakeholders

We engage with our suppliers and other stakeholders to monitor and address opportunities and concerns within our supply chain. For our tobacco businesses, we work directly with growers, regulatory agencies, agricultural stakeholders and working groups like the Farm Labor Practices Group and Good Agricultural Practices Connections to help leaf suppliers,  growers, farm labor contractors and farmworkers better understand and comply with labor laws and regulations.

In 2019, we joined the Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP). The STP is an industry initiative with a vision to become leaders in driving sustainable agriculture. After the implementation and use of STP 1.2, the industry recognized the opportunity to update the current platform to further advance sustainability by proactively and continuously working to improve agricultural practices, improve industry environmental and social footprints, enable transparent communication of responsible practices across the supply chain, and contribute to Sustainable Development Goals. As a member of the STP Steering Committee, we are actively contributing to the development of the new STP Platform.

Visit our 2019 Corporate Responsibility Progress Report to Learn More