What kind of organisation is Sourcery?

Sourcery is a for-profit, member-owned global sourcing solution and digital trade platform that connects brands, manufacturers, traders, and producers committed to transacting with greater transparency, fairness, and efficiency through the Sourcery Connect platform.

Organised as a U.S.-registered corporation (Sourcery Group, Inc.), we operate globally through a network of regional subsidiaries.

Our revenue is generated through member contributions, transaction-based fees and other fees paid by Partners—who are also the owners of Sourcery.

Sourcery does not accept philanthropic donations, grants, or subsidies. We believe that the transformation of trade for good must be driven by the inherent value of trade—unlocking commercial, social, and environmental impact at scale.

Who are Sourcery’s Partners?

Sourcery Commercial Partners include brands, retailers, manufacturers, traders, grower organisations, and individual producers engaged in the growing, manufacturing, purchasing, and sale agri-commodities and products. In addition, Impact Partners and Assurance Partners who support these value chain actors are welcomed into the ecosystem.

All Partners are also eligible to become co-owners of Sourcery through the Sourcery Equity Credit Programme. Under this programme, membership contributions and transaction volumes earn Equity Credits, which can be converted into common stock within the first five (5) years of membership. All Partners can also choose to invest directly as equity investors in Sourcery. To learn more, email us at investors@thesourcery.io.

Is Sourcery a trader or agent?

Sourcery is a global sourcing solution and trade platform that connects brands, manufacturers, traders, and producers committed to transforming trade for good. Our team of Engagement Professionals serves as commercially neutral intermediaries and facilitators, supporting our Partners across the value chain.

We help ensure that transactions between Partners who trade via the Connect Platform are transparent, efficient and trusted—delivering meaningful impact at scale.

Importantly, Sourcery does not buy or sell the commodities or products directly, nor do we accept commissions on any sales. Our role is to enable and empower transformation of trade for good. Plus we are owned by our Partners.

Is Sourcery a multi-stakeholder initiative?

Sourcery is a for-profit corporation owned by its Partners and governed through a unique two-tier structure consisting of a Board of Directors and an Advisory Council.

While similar in spirit to a multi-stakeholder organisation, Sourcery goes further—empowering Partners as active shareholders (not just member or benefactors) who help shape the development of solutions, policies, products, and services. Our Partners are not passive investors; they are co-creators in the transformation of trade.

The Board of Directors, appointed by the shareholders, is composed of nine (9) individuals who provide strategic leadership, fiduciary oversight, and appoint the executive team.

The Advisory Council is elected by shareholders and made up of representatives from each of the five (5) Partner categories:

• Brand Partners

• Manufacturer Partners

• Trade Partners

• Grower Partners

• Impact Partners

The Advisory Council provides annual recommendations to the Board on the organisation’s strategic direction. While it plays a vital advisory role, it holds no fiduciary or legal responsibilities.

All Partners who hold shares are voting shareholders, with voting rights determined by the number and type of shares owned. To request a copy of our Bylaws and Governance Overview, please contact us directly.

Does Sourcery measure and report on impact?

Sourcery supports its Partners in capturing high-quality, verified primary data at the farm, facility, and chain-of-custody levels through the Intelligent Impact Solution and the Sourcery Connect platform.

As a commercially neutral trade facilitator, Sourcery does not interpret, analyze, score, or issue impact reports. We do not make value judgments on the data collected.

Instead, we work exclusively with qualified third parties—welcomed into the ecosystem as Impact Partners—to independently assess and report on the commercial, social, and environmental progress of our Partners.

Impact Partners may include:

• Multi-stakeholder initiatives

• Standards and certification bodies

• Social, environmental, and climate impact assessment firms

• Agronomic and extension service providers

• Third-party verifiers and testing laboratories

Together, these organisations help ensure transparency, accountability, and credible impact measurement across the value chain—supporting Sourcery’s mission to transform trade for good. Learn more here.

Is Sourcery a traceability solution or blockchain?

The Sourcery Connect platform features a groundbreaking Trade function that enables Partners to digitally and securely manage orders, enquiries, offers, and settlements for spot, future, and forward contracts—in real time.

While the Sourcery Connect is not a traditional traceability solution and does not publicly offer or communicate volume reconciliation or chain-of-custody reporting itself across multiple Partner accounts. It captures all essential data, documents, and images required by third-party providers to do so on behalf of our Partners.

During the course of trade, the selling party must upload all relevant documentation in real-time to close the contract, including:

• Invoices

• Bills of lading

• Certificates of conformity (e.g., phytosanitary, scope certificates)

• Packing lists

• Quality reports

• Supporting images

All this information is securely stored in the seller’s Partner Data Value (PDV) on Sourcery Connect. The seller maintains full control and may choose to share or license this information with traceability solution providers such as TextileGenesis, FibreTrace, TrusTrace, or any other system.

To support interoperability, API or data bridges can be established between the Bluenumber system and third-party platforms, provided they comply with Sourcery’s data rights, ownership, storage, and use requirements.

Who owns the data?

All personal, location, transactional, farm, and facility data collected through Sourcery Connect—as part of the Transparent Trade and Intelligent Impact solutions—is fully owned and controlled by the data originators: the producers, manufacturers, trade, and brand Partners who generate the data via their device.

These data originators retain full rights over their data, which is protected under the GDPR and other international data privacy and usage regulations.

All data is securely stored in each user’s Partner Data Vault (PDV) via the Bluenumber system. No third parties—including Sourcery—have direct access to this data without the explicit written consent of the data owner.

Data originators may choose to license or freely share their data with other Partners, enabling trusted and voluntary data exchange across the ecosystem.

Is Sourcery and Direct-to-Grower™ a standard or certification?

Recently, Sourcery has developed the Sourcery Certified™ standard. The Sourcery Certified™ is a trade standard, providing our Partners with a continuous improvement framework to measure progress as they transform trade for good. Partners can earn Sourcery Certified™ Blue, Silver and Gold designations.

Using the Sourcery Certified™ seals, Producer, Manufacturer, Trade and Brand Partners can be further recognised and rewarded by vendors, clients and brands by demonstrating their commitment to transforming trade for good through Sourcery.

Sourcery Certified™ is not a product, composition or sustainability claims standard and making such claims, directly or indirectly, are stictly prohibited for Partner members.

Sourcery Certified™ Seal

The Sourcery Certified™ is issued to organizations who meets the requires of Sourcery Certified™. There are prescriptive guidelines for each Partner type where and how the they can use the seal on its own or in relation to other standards and certifications as to prevent misunderstanding or communicate that Sourcery and Sourcery Certified™ is a product, composition or sustainability claims standard.