Grupo Bimbo

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

Plastic use and packaging waste
By 2025, Grupo Bimbo commits to achieving 100% recyclable, biodegradable or compostable packaging. Furthermore, the company demonstrates progress against the target by disclosing that 90% of its packaging is recyclable. However, to improve performance, Grupo Bimbo has an opportunity to demonstrate that 100% of its packaging is sustainable.

Availability of healthy foods
Grupo Bimbo provides quantitative evidence of the proportion of products that comply with limits established for added sugar, trans fat, saturated fat and sodium. In addition to having a nutrient profile system, Grupo Bimbo has the target to have 100% of its ‘daily consumption’ products meet the maximum recommended limits of critical nutrients. Against the target, the company disclosed global compliance of 93% in 2020. Grupo Bimbo can further improve by extending this commitment to other product categories.

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

Sustainable development strategy
The company has set time-bound targets covering topics within the Food and Agriculture Benchmark’s three dimensions of environment, nutrition and social inclusion. However, it has an opportunity to disclose a global sustainable development strategy and further information on how it identifies and prioritises the topics where it has the most impact covering its operations in all the countries in which it operates.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
Grupo Bimbo has a Central Sustainability Committee that ensures that sustainability forms an integral part of the company. To improve in this area, Grupo Bimbo has an opportunity to disclose its highest governance body’s remuneration policy regarding sustainability.

Stakeholder engagement
The company does not disclose stakeholder engagement activities, including how it selects the stakeholders, nor an overview of the topics discussed or their outcomes.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
While the company discloses reductions of scope 1 (electricity) and scope 2 GHG emissions, it does not report on quantitative reductions across all segments under scope 1 and 2. Grupo Bimbo can improve by setting a target to reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and reporting progress against it. In relation to scope 3, Grupo Bimbo reports on segments of scope 3, but it can strengthen its performance by setting a target to reduce scope 3 emissions and reporting progress against it.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
While the company has commitments to deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) supply chains through policies, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets for achieving DCF supply chains for its relevant high-risk commodities.

Water use
While the company discloses quantitative reductions in its water use, it is yet to set a target to reduce its water consumption across its own operations.

Food loss and waste
Grupo Bimbo has set a target to halve food waste in its operations by 2025. Although the company reports on the progress achieved in the different geographies where it operates, it has an opportunity to improve its performance by providing evidence of how it collaborates with value chain partners to prevent food loss and waste in its supply chain.

Antibiotics use and growth-promoting substances
The company does not disclose that it is reducing or prohibiting the prophylactic use of antibiotics and growth-promoting substances for aquatic and farm animals relevant to the company. It has an opportunity to disclose a commitment on antibiotics which addresses the topic across its relevant species, geographies and products.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company has a commitment for back-of-pack and front-of-pack labelling. Except for the countries where there is an official regulatory framework, Grupo Bimbo operates with a front-of-pack labelling scheme based on the Guideline Daily Amount per serving size. The company further discloses that 99% of its products comply globally with back-of-pack labelling commitments and 95% of products globally comply with front-of-pack labelling (not including India and Morocco). The company can strengthen its performance by adopting interpretive front-of-pack labels.

Responsible marketing
While the company has a commitment to market its products responsibly, particularly to children, it has an opportunity to disclose evidence of activities promoting healthy foods.

Food safety
While the company discloses evidence that some sites of its own operations are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme/certifications, it does not demonstrate that all its own operations are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme/certification programme.

Forced labour
While the company commits to prohibiting forced labour in its own operations and supply chain, it has an opportunity to disclose a requirement that prohibits its suppliers from retaining all workers’ personal documents.

Living wage
The company does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage nor requires its suppliers to do the same. Neither has it set targets to do so in the future.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company does not disclose that it specifically recognises the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women and young farmers.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
Grupo Bimbo provides evidence of programmes to support farmers. These programmes focus on training farmers to adopt sustainable practices and guaranteeing the direct sale of maize and wheat. The company can improve by reporting on what the impact of these programmes is on farmer resilience and livelihood.

Land rights
In its global agriculture policy, the company commits to respecting land tenure rights and the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous and local communities on lands to which they hold legal, communal or customary rights. Furthermore, Grupo Bimbo requires its suppliers to have a credible and accessible grievance mechanism in place, to which stakeholders can submit grievances without fear of recrimination, reprisal or dismissal. To improve in this area, the company can provide examples of remediation as well as restitution and compensation by describing the process.

Grupo Bimbo provides grievance mechanisms for both workers and third parties and commits to respecting human rights. However, no sufficient commitment to respect the right of collective bargaining in its own operations was found. Moreover, the company commits to engaging with affected stakeholders but does not provide evidence of a due diligence process to identify, assess and take action to address salient human rights issues.

Although Grupo Bimbo commits to health and safety and expects its supply chain partners to adhere to the same standards, it can improve its commitment by disclosing quantitative information on health and safety of its workers. While the company discloses some key metrics related to gender equality and workforce diversity, there remains an opportunity to increase the disclosure on these topics and formulate a policy commitment towards gender equality. Moreover, the company has not made commitments towards paying a living wage in its own operations and supply chain and can strengthen its commitments and expectations regarding working hours in its own operations and supply chain.

The company publicly commits to protecting personal data and has a policy to prohibit, identify and address risks related to bribery and corruption in its own operations and supply chain partners. Additionally, Grupo Bimbo discloses its global tax policy, but it can improve its disclosure by reporting on its income tax payments for all its tax jurisdictions.  Moreover, the company commits to responsible lobbying and political engagement, but it lacks public disclosure on its lobbying expenditures.