Polarica's raw materials are picked, grown and processed by people: seasonal berry pickers in Nordic forests, farm and factory workers across our global supply chains, and our own employees in Sweden, Finland and Poland. Human rights are the foundation of our social responsibility, and this policy defines what we require of ourselves and our partners.

Our Human Rights Policy applies to every person and entity in the Polarica Group. It builds on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the international norms behind them, including the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. It was originally adopted by the Board of Directors on 3 March 2023.

Identifying and addressing human rights risks

We have conducted two Human Rights Impact Assessments: in 2022, with external expertise, and in 2025–2026. The latest, completed in March 2026, follows the Danish Institute for Human Rights methodology. It covers eight right-holder groups across the full value chain, from our own employees to berry pickers and workers in supplier facilities in risk countries, and rates nine human rights topics, from forced labour to bullying and harassment, by severity.

We publish the findings, including the critical ones, in our Business and Sustainability Report. The assessment identified critical risks in occupational health and safety in our own facilities, in wages and working hours during the berry harvest, and in broker-driven recruitment, wages and discrimination at supplier facilities in risk countries. Mitigation measures and monitoring methods are defined for each group.

Who our operations affect

Our operations impact four groups of people: our own work community, the people in our supply chains, the end-users of our products, and the people living near our facilities.

Our own work community. The priorities are occupational health and safety, addressing harassment and bullying, and combining work with the rest of life. Our Anti-Bullying Policy requires investigations to begin within two weeks of a reported concern, and our Equality and Diversity Policy states equal pay for equal work explicitly.

Our supply chains. Supply chain risks are often harder to manage than those within our direct operations, because they sit outside our day-to-day oversight. That is why we maintain a structured supplier management process – including binding Supplier Code of Conduct requirements, risk-based audits, and corrective action follow-up.

Our Supplier Code of Conduct prohibits recruitment, application and administrative fees for workers and berry pickers. Suppliers in high-risk countries must hold a valid third-party social audit. During the harvest season we visit picker camps in Finland and Sweden. After each season, we analyse picker compensation data, including total wages paid, costs, and comparison against applicable minimum and living wage benchmarks.

In 2025, an independent survey of 355 Thai pickers across four camps was conducted by one of our key customers – a leading grocery retailer in Finland – with no involvement from Polarica in the design or administration. Key findings: 84.5% feel safe at work, 95.1% retain full control of their passport at all times, and average net earnings after all deductions were €5,700 for the season. The results are published in full on our website. Grievance channels are available in the pickers' own language via QR codes at camps and picking locations.

End-users of our products. The products we sell end up on family tables and we take that seriously. We control product quality at every step – from raw material approval through processing to final release. Our Haparanda and Świdwin sites run metal detection and/or X-ray inspection on every batch. HACCP is the food safety foundation across every site we operate: systematic, documented, and continuously reviewed. Each production site is audited annually against GFSI-recognised food safety standards: BRC, IFS, or FSSC 22000.

People near our facilities. We work to manage the environmental impacts of our production sites through certified environmental management systems. All three production sites are now ISO 14001 certified: Świdwin in Poland was certified in 2024, Lappeenranta in Finland completed certification in spring 2026, and Haparanda in Sweden finalised its certificate in June 2026. Through these systems, we identify and monitor environmental aspects such as energy use, emissions, waste and resource efficiency, and set site-level objectives for continual improvement.

Our emissions reduction targets are validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), with a commitment to reach operational carbon neutrality by 2035.

Equality and non-discrimination

All human rights rest on the principle that every individual is treated equally, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, disability, sexual orientation or any other personal characteristic.

Our Equality and Diversity Policy applies this consistently across recruitment, training, career progression and pay. Positions are advertised internally before external recruitment begins, career progression follows a meritocracy principle, and equal pay for equal work is explicitly stated. Workplace climate is assessed annually through an anonymous Employee Survey, which measures perceptions of fair treatment, trust and respect – results are reviewed at both entity and Group level to identify improvement areas.

What we are working on next

Human rights due diligence does not end with an assessment. Our 2026–2028 sustainability programme sets measurable targets: fair compensation that meets or exceeds applicable minimum wage requirements for our own employees and forest berry pickers, a living wage programme with our mango supplier in Vietnam and strawberry supplier in Egypt, and 100% supplier commitment to our Code of Conduct. A confidential whistleblower channel is open to employees and external stakeholders, and every report is investigated within a defined process.