Winter wheat is a great product in a category that consumers are increasingly asking for — sustainably produced food that they can feel good about serving to their families. The Winter Wheat Ecolabel helps Canadians identify a sustainable choice and allows them to feel good about their buying decisions. It also provides you an opportunity to position your brand in a progressive way.
Winter wheat produces flour with a whiter and brighter appearance, has good texture retention, and has good processing properties. There’s no sacrifice on quality for better environmental outcomes. It’s great for hamburger and hotdog buns, pancake mixes and pizza crusts.
The Habitat-Friendly Winter Wheat Ecolabel Program will operate on a three-year audit cycle, where program participants will be required to submit updates regarding their operation and information on certified volumes to the program administrator on an annual basis.
Entities Eligible for Certification:
- Grain Handlers
- Mills
- Manufacturers
Farms are not directly eligible for certification and do not undergo an audit.
Joining the ecolabel program requires entities to meet program certification requirements for initial enrollment, as well as maintaining compliance with program standards as part of a three-year audit cycle. Entities that are eligible for certificates in the program include grain handlers, mills, and manufacturers.
- Application
Program participants submit an application to the program administrator. Download the application form here. - Third-party Audit
A third-party auditor completes a remote audit of the applicant. - Certification Decision
The auditor will submit documents to the program administrator for review by the Governance Committee. - Approval
The participant receives their certificate and information on ecolabel claims and logo use guidelines.
Key program requirements must be met for establishing the claim of Habitat-Friendly Winter Wheat at the point of sale from farmers as well as traceability.
Grain Handler or Mill Requirements for Receipt of Western Winter Wheat:
- Identity of the Wheat variety grown as belonging to the class Canada Western Red Winter Wheat.
Program participants will be required to submit evidence of wheat variety classification of CWRW according to Canadian Grain Commission’s Official Grain Grading Guide. - Education and Outreach Activities with Farmers that Supply Western Winter Wheat.
To support stewardship practices by farmers, an education and outreach component will be part of the initial step of establishing the claim. Chain of Custody Requirements for Mill and Manufacturer:
- Segregating Certified Grain
Physical segregation of grain will need to be demonstrated
through your management, including documentation and record keeping that support tracking of certified product, and evidence of physical controls to separate the grain. - Blending Threshold
To qualify for certification status, the percentage of winter wheat in the flour of the final product must be determined and consist of at least 30% by weight of certified Habitat-Friendly Winter Wheat.