ICA Gruppen

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 discloses in its 2020 Annual Report that it has undertaken a materiality analysis to identify and prioritise the topics where it has most impact such as healthy products and services, customers well-being, food waste, operational and supply chain climate impact and traceability and transparency in the value chain. However, the company only discloses time-bound targets in regard to customer well-being, climate impact and food waste.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company assigns responsibility and accountability for its sustainable development strategy to its highest governance body. The company discloses that the strategic focus of the Sustainability Committee, who are responsible for setting sustainability policy and sustainability reporting, is set by the Board of Directors. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by linking board-level remuneration to the achievement of sustainability objectives.

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 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
The company has set a time-bound target to have net zero operations by 2030. This new target replaces the company’s target to become climate neutral in its operations which it achieved, with the help of offsetting, in 2020. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by reporting against the target and ensuring it is aligned with a 1.5-degree scenario.

Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
The company has set a two time-bound target in relation to scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By 2025 the company is targeting that the number of suppliers equal to 70% of ICA Gruppen’s upstream climate impact will have adopted science-based GHG emissions reduction targets. By 2030 the company is targeting to “cut the climate impact of customers’ grocery purchases in half.” The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by reporting against these targets.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
The company is showing progress towards the achievement of deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) supply chains for soya and palm oil. The company states that all soya used in ICA Gruppen private-label products is sourced based on principles from the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) or the Swedish Soy Dialogue (Svenska Sojadialogen). All palm oil used in ICA Gruppen private-label products is certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by setting time-bound targets for achieving DCF supply chains for all of its relevant high-risk commodities and reporting against them.

Food loss and waste
The company discloses a time-bound target in its 2020 Annual Report to “cut food waste from warehouses and stores in half by 2025.” The company reports progress against this target having reduced food waste by 14% in 2020. The company has an opportunity to collaborate with partners in the value chain to reduce food loss and waste.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company has set two time-bound targets in relation to plastic use and packaging waste. By 2022 the company is targeting that the plastic packaging used for ICA Gruppen’s private-label products is recyclable. By 2030 the company is targeting that the plastic packaging used for ICA Gruppen’s private-label products be made from recycled or renewable materials. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by reporting progress against these targets.

Animal welfare
While the company has a commitment on animal welfare which addresses animal welfare issues it does not disclose that it addresses specific animal welfare issues for its relevant key species.

Availability of healthy foods
While the company discloses a target that consumption of fruit and vegetables in Sweden will be the equivalent of 500 grams a day per person by 2025, it has an opportunity to disclose reformulation efforts regarding key nutrients such as sugar, fat and salt.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
The company does not disclose a commitment and activities to improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods for vulnerable groups.

Clear and transparent labelling
While the company discloses a commitment of compliance with national regulations regarding labelling and commits to providing nutritional information on key relevant nutrients through back-of-pack labels, it has an opportunity to make nutritional information more visible to consumers through the adoption of front-of-pack labels.

Responsible marketing
The company does not disclose a responsible marketing policy, nor guidelines specific to marketing to children.

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

Food safety
While the company discloses that all of its own operations are certified to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognised food safety scheme, it has an opportunity to improve its performance by demonstrating that 100% of its suppliers are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme.

Child labour
While the company commits to prohibiting child labour in its supply chain, it does not disclose a commitment to prohibit child labour in its operations.

Forced labour
While the company commits to prohibiting forced labour in its supply chain, it does not disclose a commitment to prohibit forced labour in its operations. In addition to rectifying the above the company has an opportunity to disclose a requirement that prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents and restricting workers’ freedom of movement.

Living wage
The company does not disclose 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
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
While the company has a commitment to support the resilience, productivity and access to markets for farmers and small-scale producers, it has an opportunity to disclose evidence of related 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.

ICA Gruppen has a grievance mechanism for both workers and external stakeholders whose human rights have been impacted. However, the company does not commit to respecting human rights and does not disclose a due diligence process to identify, assess and take action on human rights risks. Finally while the company has worked with organisations to combat specific human rights issues, they do not disclose the categories of stakeholders whose human rights they have impacted.

ICA Gruppen has committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. However, the company discloses no relevant information on the topics of living wage, regulating working hours or collective bargaining. Furthermore while ICA Gruppen is committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment the company does not disclose the proportion of employees for each employee category by indicators of diversity such as gender, age, race or ethnicity.

ICA Gruppen has committed to protecting personal data but its privacy statement only applies to users in the United States. The company discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement and specifies that it does not make political contributions. Furthermore the company prohibits bribery and corruption and provides a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns. ICA Gruppen lacks disclosure on responsible tax fundamentals; the company does not disclose its tax strategy or its corporate income tax payments for all its tax jurisdictions.