Beyond food sanitation standards, there are countless standards that buyers recognize to set supplier products apart from others. The International Trade Center (ITC) has a website that covers these standards and should be reviewed by the exporter to determine what standards they currently achieve and what is achievable for their business.
Each standard that they achieve helps to set a producer apart from other suppliers who do not meet these standards.
Producer should weigh the cost of achieving the standards against the competitive edge that these standards provide them.
There are several standards outlined by the United Nations that address these issues. Standards for product differentiation cover everything from gender equality and social justice to environmental issues. The website https://sustainabilitymap.org/home provides an online tool for the producer to determine eligibility for various standards. Some of these standards are self-certifying, while others require a third-party certifying agency