2838 Bovaird Drive West
Brampton, Ontario
L7A 0H2
905.455.1990
www.sunopta.com

April 30, 2013
Statement of Continued Support to the UN’s Global Compact
I am pleased to reaffirm our company’s support for the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

This communication is provided as an introduction to the 2013 Communication on Progress that describes our company’s efforts to implement the ten principles and further, informs stakeholders and the public of our continued support and commitment to these ten principles.

Driven by our commitment to the health and well-being of our people, customers, communities and the environment we will continue to support the Global Compact out of the belief that the Global Compact’s principles reflect our core values, which will help guide us in our journey of becoming an increasingly sustainable organization.

Sincerely

Steve Bromley
Chief Executive Officer
SunOpta Inc.

SunOpta supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. We believe in and adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct in all business operations, even beyond the strict requirements of the law. This commitment is presented in our Corporate Policies on Business Ethics and Code of Conduct and is further solidified in our Supplier Partner Code of Conduct policy and guidelines. SunOpta conducts business first and foremost in accordance with the spirit and letter of the law, and we expect all of our Suppliers and their businesses to do the same. SunOpta contractually requires all partners to comply with federal and local labor laws, and if a legitimate inquiry is made we are prepared to respond with due diligence to ensure such laws are followed. Beyond simply adhering to the law, we believe in and adhere to standards of ethical conduct in all business operations throughout SunOpta and hold all of our Supplier Partners to comply with the SunOpta Supplier Partner Code of Conduct.

SunOpta continuously focuses on Human Rights policies through leadership training programs, distribution of information in SunOpta corporate policies regarding Business Ethics and Code of Conduct. Our Suppliers of food and food ingredients are required to confirm compliance to our Supplier Partner Code of Conduct policy. The “Supplier Partner Requirements” section of our Supplier Partner Code of Conduct policy and guidelines details the program steps for implementing Human Rights policies, the identification and reduction of risks and response to Human Rights non-conformance to our policy. Beyond expectations of compliance with our Code of Conduct, a social compliance assessment process is in place to conduct supplier assessments. Assessments are undertaken using both internal and external auditor resources. Our Supplier Partner Code of Conduct and requirements is communicated directly to our suppliers as per our Supplier Approval procedures.

SunOpta experiences that our suppliers have an increasing understanding of why SunOpta needs to ensure suppliers compliance to social responsibility and compliance. SunOpta and its service providers embrace a structured process by which supplier assessments and documentation are required and onsite assessments may be scheduled, conducted and reported. The purpose of the social compliance assessments is to determine and report on a particular Supplier Partnerʼs level of compliance with local laws and the Code of Conduct. Supplier conformance is monitored by our Quality Leaders and non-compliance concerns are reported to our Senior Management Team for follow-up. Over the past review period, there have been no legal cases nor investigations related to Human Rights issues involving our Supplier Partners; Please refer to the following sections of our SPCC guidelines for how SunOpta monitors and evaluates performance:
i) SunOpta Supplier Partner Policy; Program Management
ii) SunOpta Expectations; Supplier Partner Requirements

SunOpta adheres to all Labour Rights laws in every country it employes people. The majority of SunOpta employees reside in the United States where labour rights are regulated by law. SunOpta believes that respecting labour rights and ensuring an engaging working relationship with our employees is key to the success of our company. SunOpta policies clearly state the employee rights, responsibilities, compensation and benefits. For external partners, SunOpta requires that they respect our Code of Conduct which is aligned the UN Global Compact principles. The SunOpta Supplier Partner Code of Conduct encompasses our philosophy, guidelines, and policies as they relate to: child labor, forced labor and discrimination etc. The leadership of SunOpta is required to complete training program” to provide proper training in dealing with employees in a fair and safe environment. SunOpta also conducts a company-wide employee opinion survey. By conducting this survey, it provides the organization with an audit of potential employee issues that can be addressed appropriately. We have engaged representative employee work groups in each of our facilities to facilitate the communication of issues, concerns and ideas to help make SunOpta a world-class employee engagement organization. We believe that the success of our company is based on foremost on the strengths of our people. It is our aim to provide and foster long lasting careers for our employees. We firmly believe in providing training, development, fair compensation and benefits package for our full time employees. SunOpta Inc. and Supplier Partners conduct their business in accordance with the spirit, as well as the letter, of the law.

SunOpta consistently updates its corporate policies to reflect all labour law changes and communicates those changes to all employees where it applies. Employees are provided an employee guide book which includes policies pertaining to: Hiring and Promotions, Harassment and Discrimination, Ethics and Code of Conduct, Information Technology. The company also has implemented a company-wide confidence line program.
This program allows all employees to call into a third party anonymously if they choose. The confidence line is a specifically detailed process and has timelines built into the program to follow up within five days of the reported incident.

SunOpta has a robust performance management process that is completed by the end of the first quarter. There are specific timelines that are communicated every year and every leader in the organization is required to evaluate their employeeʼs performance.
All food and food ingredient suppliers are required to acknowledge and return the “Supplier declaration on Code of Conduct “ to confirm that they adhere to the labour principles. Our Supplier Partner social compliance assessment process is in place to confirm that they adhere to the labour principles. Supplier assessments are undertaken using both internal and external auditor resources.
SunOpta administered social compliance training for employees who have direct responsibility for assessing Supplier Partner conformance, particularly with respect to mitigating risks.
If the Supplier Partner is able to provide evidence of their commitment and compliance to our Code of
Conduct, an onsite assessment may not be deemed immediately necessary. Our determination and prioritization will be based in part on the Supplier Partner's ability to comprehensively complete and submit the Self Assessment and supporting evidence in a timely manner.
SunOpta HR Representatives monitor labor violations and conduct a thorough investigation. After the investigation is complete, a determination will be made as to what actions will be taken. HR management reports on any labor violations to the Senior Management Team and Board of Directors every quarter. One of the indicators which evaluate performance on labour rights is the company’s salary employee turnover. Management continually monitors trends on employee turnover and responds to negative trends.

Our environmental approach to environmental stewardship is presented in our Corporate Social Responsibility report and is available on our corporate website for all stakeholders. A cornerstone of our success is the recognition of the relationship between a healthy company and a healthy environment. Our sustainability efforts aim to pursue perfection and the interconnection between all three dimensions of sustainability. Our environmental stewardship vision is to become an increasingly environmentally restorative company. In doing so, we believe that environmental stewardship means first understanding the impact of our actions on the health of the environment and continually working to reduce these impacts.

Achieving our vision of becoming an environmentally restorative company requires a company culture committed to continuously finding innovative ways to positively contribute to the environment. One of the most important environmental stewardship initiatives is the focus of reduction of our company’s carbon footprint. Over the past year we have invested in energy systems audits of our manufacturing and processing facilities. We are focused on continuously improving the efficiency in our processes without an increase in the use of energy and other resources. SunOpta continuously strives to reduce our impact on the environment. Working towards our 2020 goal of 90% waste diversion from landfill we are proceeding to establish a waste stream baseline. Our Environmental Goals are communicated in our CSR report and Teams are championing the initiatives below to execute on our goals and targets.
SunOpta through internal activities such as our business participating in “Earth Day” events and internal communications is striving to increase the general understanding of the importance on reduction of waste and energy and water conservation across our businesses.
SunOpta also raises awareness among our suppliers by requiring that all suppliers must respect our Ethical and Environmental standard. Suppliers are required to confirm compliance according to our “Supplier Partner Code of Conduct”.

Please refer to our CSR report, Environmental Stewardship section for more information on how the company monitors environmental performance and metrics.

SunOpta, provides regular training on ethical standards and expectations to all leaders. Each leader signs off on a document confirming their understanding of the company’s policies and procedures regarding ethics. SunOpta has a zero –tolerance for corruption, bribery and extortion. Our ethical standards are communicated in our “Business Ethics & Code of Conduct”. We strive to ensure transparency in all our operations and business transactions. Through this ongoing focus there is a relative low exposure to risk of corruption.

SunOpta’s ethical standard is provided to all employees. Other documents like our company “Values”, company regulations , employment contracts and job descriptions also contain ethical rules. The anticorruption/ ethics training is provided to SunOpta employees including written ethics policies are provided to new employees. Suppliers are made aware of SunOpta’s ethical standards through “Supplier Partner Code of Conduct”.
A duty of confidentiality contained in the company regulations, employment contracts or job descriptions does not prevent employees from informing about breaches of regulations, legislation or company policies. This also applies to internal guidelines, provisions or issues that might harm SunOpta’s reputation or other parties trust in SunOpta. Senior management is responsible for anti-corruption.

SunOpta has a designated Risk Management team that conducts annual internal audits on all functions within the organization. There is a process established and a risk/audit report is presented to the company’s Board of Directors and Senior leadership every quarter. The confidence line is in place to provide all employees a way to report any anti-corruption while protecting their anonymity. There have been no investigations, legal cases, rulings, fines and other relevant events related to corruption and bribery during the review period.