The Dealer was leafing through Dawn Meats’ 86-page Group Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2019 when my attention was piqued by its “sustainable sourcing” section.

In it, the company declared a commitment to “tackling modern slavery within their supply chains” and indeed a willingness on the part of themselves and UK partners Dunbia to “invite and undergo regular third-party ethical audits, where our approach and effectiveness in tackling modern slavery is assessed as part of the process”.

Dawn also highlights that “responsible companies invite external oversight and verification in order to provide assurance to its stakeholders”.

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The Dealer is wondering when Dawn will allow external oversight into its financial performance to see how much more money could be redirected towards farmer suppliers and lift them out of the economic crisis they feel trapped in with current beef prices.