ED&F Man

No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the environment measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the nutrition measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion measurement area.

Sustainable development strategy
The company does not disclose a sustainable development strategy that includes sustainable development objectives and targets, nor an identification and prioritisation process to determine the topics where it has the most impact.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
ED&F Man describes the roles and responsibilities of its Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, which include oversight by a board member. However, no evidence was found regarding inclusion of sustainability metrics in the remuneration policy of its highest governance body.

Stakeholder engagement
While ED&F Man states that it engages in stakeholder dialogue, it does not disclose the process of how it selects the stakeholders, nor an overview of the topics discussed or their outcomes.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
While the company has previously reported reductions in its carbon emissions, no recent evidence was found regarding quantitative reductions in its greenhouse gas emissions or setting of reduction targets aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
While the company states that it is growing its supply chains of certified sustainable products, no sufficient qualitative evidence or targets for achieving deforestation and conversion-free supply chains for its high-risk commodities were found.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
Through the Volcafe Way programme, ED&F Man provides evidence of supporting sustainable agricultural practices for its coffee farmers. However, the company can improve significantly by setting targets to increase the percentage of production from sustainable practices that improve soil health and agrobiodiversity and reporting progress against them.

Water use
The company does not disclose that it is reducing water withdrawals across its operations and supply chain.

Food loss and waste
ED&F Man discloses some evidence of reducing food loss and waste through supporting reuse of its products such as molasses in fertilisers and fermentation. However, the company is yet to disclose sufficient quantitative evidence regarding its food loss and waste reductions and has not set any reduction targets.

Availability, accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
Given its role as an agricultural trader, ED&F Man has less impact on nutrition issues than companies involved in the manufacturing of consumer products. However, it is yet to disclose commitments to address food insecurity by supporting the production of healthy and nutritious foods and improving the accessibility of such foods.

Workforce nutrition
The company does not disclose sufficient evidence of having any workforce nutrition programmes.

Food safety
ED&F Man provides evidence of ensuring safe food through its food safety policy, which includes guiding principles based on widely recognised food safety certifications. The company can further strengthen its commitment by providing evidence that 100% of its own operations are certified to a food safety scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative or other widely recognised certification programme.

Child labour
ED&F Man indicates that it does not use child labour and requires that its suppliers adhere to the same standard. While the company provides some evidence of monitoring processes, no sufficient evidence was found regarding requirements for suppliers to verify the age of workers.

Forced labour
While ED&F Man indicates that it does not use forced labour and requires that its suppliers adhere to the same standard, no sufficient evidence was found that it prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents or restricting workers’ freedom of movement.

Living wage
The company does not disclose evidence that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its suppliers to do the same. Neither has it set targets to do so in the future.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
While the company recognises the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups such as seasonal workers, it does not provide evidence of support activities that improve the health and safety of vulnerable groups.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
ED&F Man discloses its commitment to support farmer productivity and resilience through Volcafe Way, its farmer support programme that offers technical assistance to improve farm productivity and coffee yields. The company discloses the impact of its support programme through increases in yields and farmer earnings. The company has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by demonstrating that it systematically measures the outcomes and impact of all its support activities.

Land rights
The company does not commit to recognising and respecting the legitimate tenure rights related to the ownership and use of land of local communities.

ED&F Man commits to respecting human rights and the ILO core labour rights in its own operations and supply chain. The company provides grievance mechanisms for workers and third parties, although it is unclear if third parties can also report grievances anonymously. While the company describes its human rights due diligence process for forced labour, it does not demonstrate how it identifies, assesses and addresses other human rights risks in its operations and supply chain. Moreover, the company does not disclose how it engages with affected and potentially affected stakeholders.

ED&F Man commits to respecting the health and safety of its workers and places health and safety expectations on its supply chain partners. However, it can strengthen its monitoring and quantitative reporting. No sufficient commitments or reporting on the other decent work topics – living wages, working hours, collective bargaining, gender equality and workforce diversity – were found in the public domain.

ED&F Man publicly commits to protecting personal data and has a privacy statement on the use of personal data. The company prohibits bribery and corruption in its operations and includes relevant clauses in its contracts with supply chain partners. However, it can improve its grievance process and disclosure on bribery and corruption identification processes. ED&F Man has publicly available policies setting out its strategy on lobbying and tax but can improve disclosure on lobbying and tax expenses.