Kernel Holding

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
In its 2020 Annual Report the company discloses a shortlist of sustainability topics which were prioritised using a materiality assessment. The company discloses 19 material topics sorted into three impact areas; economic, environmental and social. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by setting time-bound targets against its material topics and introducing nutrition topics into the materiality process. Currently the company only has a time-bound target for its scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company assigns responsibility and accountability for its sustainable development strategy to its highest governance body. The company also discloses that the Board of Directors oversee sustainability-related matters and the group’s ESG progress. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by linking board-level remuneration to the achievement of sustainability objectives.

Stakeholder engagement
While the company has conducted stakeholder engagement activities and discloses an overview of the issues raised via these activities, it has an opportunity to disclose how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders, along with information on how the outcomes of the engagement process are integrated into the company’s sustainable development strategy.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
The company has set a time-bound target to reduce the emissions intensity per ton of processed oilseeds by 5% by 2025 (against a 2020 baseline). This targets does not include all of the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions or any scope 3 emissions. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by reporting against its target or by setting new time-bound targets that cover all scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and align with a 1.5-degree scenario.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
While the company practices crop rotation to support soil health, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets to increase the percentage of production from sustainable practices that improve soil health and agrobiodiversity, reporting progress against the targets and disclosing quantifiable data on its impact on soil health and agrobiodiversity.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
While the company discloses that it monitors crop data to optimise fertiliser application, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets to increase the percentage of production from sustainable practices that optimise use of fertilisers and pesticides, and reporting progress against the targets.

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

Food loss and waste
While the company is addressing food loss and waste in its own operations by recovering organic farm waste to use as fertiliser and fodder, it has an opportunity to disclose a commitment by setting targets to reduce food loss and waste across its own operations and reporting against these targets by disclosing quantitative data to demonstrate that it is reducing food loss and waste.

Availability of healthy foods
The company does not disclose a commitment or activities to increase the availability of healthy and nutritious foods.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
While the company has a commitment to address food insecurity by improving the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods, it has an opportunity to develop commercial activities designed to make healthy foods more accessible and affordable for vulnerable groups.

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 own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard, it has an opportunity to disclose a policy requiring its suppliers to have an age-verification system in place.

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 workers’ personal documents and restricting workers’ freedom of movement.

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
The company has a commitment to support the resilience and productivity of farmers, which it does through support activities such as ‘Open Agribusiness’ which is a knowledge sharing programme designed to help farmers in Ukraine improve their yields. The company has an opportunity to improve its performance by disclosing the impact of 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.

Kernel Holding has committed to respect human rights, however the company does not disclose a due diligence process to identify, assess and take action on human rights risks. Furthermore no evidence was found in the public domain in reference to Kernel Holding engaging with stakeholders whose human rights have been impacted by its activities. Finally while the company does provide a grievance mechanism for impacted stakeholders, it does not disclose whether stakeholders can choose to remain anonymous while raising human rights complaints.

Kernel Holding discloses the number, rate and type of work–related injuries but does not disclose a policy statement which commits the company to respecting the health and safety of their own workers. Furthermore while the company discloses the number of employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, no information was found in the public domain in reference to living wages or regulating working hours. Finally, while the company has a board with at least 30% women, it does not disclose the proportion of employees for each employee category by any indicators of diversity.

Kernel Holding has committed to protecting personal data but its privacy statement does not cover the types of user information collected. Furthermore the company does not disclose its tax strategy or its corporate income tax payments for all tax jurisdictions. However, Kernel Holding does prohibit bribery and corruption and includes anti- bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts with supply chain partners. Finally while the company does not disclose its approach to lobbying and political engagement, it does specify that it does not make political donations.