True Value Language makes sustainability measurable, comparable, and rewardable with one shared method for the entire chain.
Developed in collaboration with over 20 parties in the food chain and government, ensuring that agreements work in practice and are broadly supported.
Provides clear insight into sustainability performance and makes it easy to compare, without constantly using different terms or methods.
One language for everyone: from farmers and growers to supermarkets, financiers, and governments.
True Value Language (TVL) is a collaboration between private and public parties in which farmers and growers, chain parties, financiers, and governments make agreements on making sustainability performance on the farm transparent and comparable. This is possible because they are defined, calculated, measured, and reported in the same way—and can be valued in their own way—without unnecessary administrative burdens.
Sustainability is measured, calculated, and reported in many different ways. This leads to extra administration, lack of clarity, and limited comparability. Good performance is not always recognized or rewarded, and the sustainability transition of our food system remains difficult and fragmented.
True Value Language brings existing initiatives together into one shared language. This makes sustainability performance at the company level reliable, comparable, and useful for policy, chain agreements, and financing – without reinventing the wheel. In this way, the government and chain parties work together on the transition to a sustainable food system.
By participating in True Value Language, you contribute directly to shaping a sustainable, efficient, and transparent food system where goal-oriented steering and chain management become possible.
Reduced administrative burdens, gaining more insight into their own
performance with incentives for improvement, and a better perspective on rewards.
Lower costs for data collection, audits, and reporting; reliable and comparable sustainability information, and better alignment with
(inter)national and European standards and frameworks.
Lower costs for data collection, audits, and reporting; unambiguous insight into sustainable performance to support risk assessment, financing, and impact steering.
Better impact measurement of policy and lower monitoring and
implementation costs.
More transparency and comparability to make the impact of sustainability performance insightful and to strengthen collaborations in the chain.
Would you like to explore what True Value Language can mean for your organization? Please feel free to contact us for further information.
Currently, there is a lack of overarching management of the various initiatives within the agricultural sectors. As the government is committed to further growth and improvement, TVL can fulfill a central role by taking on the supervision and coordination of this development.
The development of sustainability indicators is currently fragmented: partly at KPI-K, partly at companies themselves. TVL will bundle this responsibility by taking over the development within KPI-K. This creates one central point where companies can also help build KPIs suitable for clear and verifiable goal and chain management.
Sustainability is measured, calculated, and reported in many different ways. This leads to extra administration, lack of clarity, and limited comparability. Good performance is not always recognized or rewarded, and the food transition remains difficult and fragmented.
TVL brings together public and private organizations from across the food chain. This allows the Netherlands to participate within Europe with one clear voice. TVL strengthens alignment with international frameworks and supports further expansion to new countries and international partnerships.
TVL only works if chain parties, financiers, sector organizations, farmers and growers, knowledge and civil society organizations, and the government take joint responsibility. This means: participating and investing in TVL, agreeing on common definitions, and active participation in further elaboration and development.
Do you have questions about True Value Language or would you like to know more? Please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to explain the initiative and discuss what TVL can mean for your organization.
