Marfrig

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

Animal welfare
Marfrig demonstrates efforts to ensure animal welfare across its operations and supply chain, with a group-wide policy that refers to multiple welfare issues across its key species of cattle, pigs and chicken. The company also discloses information on its efforts to incorporate third-party auditing verification and reports that 100% of its audited suppliers were found to be acting in accordance with North American Meat Institute standards. Although the company discloses time-bound targets to audit all of its suppliers, it has an opportunity to further strengthen its performance by setting targets for the remaining key welfare issues and reporting progress against these.

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
Marfrig discloses a materiality assessment for 2018 that includes environmental and social topics. Nutrition is lacking from this assessment, and so are time-bound targets related to the most relevant issues identified in the assessment. In December 2020, the company invited a new round of feedback to create a new materiality matrix, but has yet to disclose significant information on its outcomes.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development strategy
Marfrig has a team devoted to sustainability, and its sustainability strategy guidelines come from the board of directors. However, oversight of and accountability for the strategy lie with the chief executive officer, not the highest governing body.

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.

Water use
Marfrig reached its target to reduce its water consumption by 30% by 2020. Furthermore, the company discloses dependency in water-stressed areas within its own operations and describes how it works with partners to tackle the issue along its supply chain. Marfrig has an opportunity to renew its water consumption target and mapping and disclosing water-stressed areas within its supply chain as well as own operations.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
The company has set time-bound reduction targets for its scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions. Yet while it discloses progress towards its scope 3 emissions target, it discloses a total increase in scope 1 and 2 emissions over the reporting period. The company also has an opportunity to align its targets with the Science Based Targets initiative’s 1.5-degree warming trajectory.

Protection of natural terrestrial ecosystems
Marfrig discloses a target that 100% of its production chain will be sustainable and free from deforestation by 2030. The company reports that it has identified the origin of 62% of its high-risk commodities in the Amazon and 47% in the Cerrado, and it audited 100% of direct suppliers in 2019, finding 7% non-compliance and 72% rehabilitation of those. Furthermore, the company only buys soya from companies who are part of the Amazon Soy Moratorium agreement. Marfrig can consolidate its leading position by achieving a 100% deforestation-free value chain.

Protein diversification
The company reports that it launched a meat-free hamburger range in 2019. However, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment to protein diversification by setting a related sales-based target and reporting on this as a proportion of its overall product portfolio sales.

Food loss and waste
The company does not disclose that it is addressing food loss and waste in its own operations. It has an opportunity to disclose a commitment by demonstrating policies and/or activities that tackle 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
The company does not disclose a commitment to address food insecurity by improving the accessibility and affordability of healthy and nutritious foods.

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 and/or any other consumer-facing nutrition label.

Food safety
All of Marfrig’s own operations have numerous certifications for different aspects of food security, including 30 out of 32 units with BRC certification and two with IFS, both of which are schemes recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative, yet has an opportunity to disclose how it is addressing this issue with its suppliers.

Farmer productivity and resilience
Marfrig supports farmers in its production chain in different ways, including access to finance for smaller farmers and technical support. However, it has an opportunity to disclose data on the impact of its programmes to increase farmer productivity and resilience.

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.

Child labour
The company commits to abolishing all forms of child labour and expects the same from its suppliers, but it does not state that it verifies the age of job applicants and workers in its own operations and supply chain.

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.

No policies or commitments related to respect for human rights were found in the public domain. As such, Marfrig demonstrates a lack of responsibility in protecting basic human rights in its operations and supply chains.

Marfrig commits to guaranteeing the health and safety of its workers and expects its supply chain partners to do the same. However, no policies or commitments related to working hours, living wages, collective bargaining or workforce diversity were found.

Marfrig states that it does not make any political contributions and has an anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy supported by a whistle-blower mechanism. However, a responsible tax policy is lacking, as is a personal data protection policy.