McCormick

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
McCormick discloses objectives covering sustainability topics relevant to the three benchmark measurement areas of environment, nutrition and social inclusion. In addition, the company discloses the process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant topics through a materiality assessment. Moreover, the company has set time-bound targets for its most relevant sustainability topics and reports progress against them. Nonetheless, there is an opportunity for McCormick to strengthen its performance by applying its targets and priority topics to its entire value chain.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
While McCormick discloses having a Sustainability Council that is responsible for the implementation of its sustainable development strategy, it has an opportunity to strengthen accountability by assigning this responsibility to its highest governance body. Moreover, the company should disclose further information on its decision-making processes and oversight responsibilities as well as linking sustainability objectives and targets to specific roles and remuneration.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses that it undertakes stakeholder engagement activities, reporting on six relevant stakeholder groupings. However, it does not provide an overview of the issues raised via these activities, nor how the outcomes have been integrated into its sustainability strategy, presenting an opportunity for the company in future reporting.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
McCormick has a target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 20% by 2025 and reports progress against this target annually. Nonetheless, there is an opportunity for the company to improve its performance by setting a reduction target that is aligned with a 1.5-degree warming scenario.

Water use
While McCormick discloses a target to reduce water use by 20% in its facilities by 2025 and reports progress against this target annually, the company increased its water use in both 2019 and 2020. Therefore, the company does not provide evidence that it is reducing water withdrawals across its operations and supply chain, presenting a risk going forward.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
While McCormick discloses qualitative evidence through its sustainable agriculture policy, 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.

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

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
McCormick does not disclose a commitment to address food insecurity by improving the accessibility and affordability of healthy and nutritious foods.

Food safety
The company provides evidence that 100% of its operations are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme. However, it does not disclose the percentage of food suppliers certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme or certification programme, presenting an opportunity for the company going forward.

Child labour
While McCormick indicates that it will not use child labour in its supply chain, there is insufficient disclosure regarding its own operations. Moreover, the company does not indicate that it requires its suppliers to verify the age of workers recruited.

Forced labour
While McCormick indicates that it will not use forced labour in its supply chain, it is not clear – in a code of conduct or similar policy document – if this is also the case for its own operations.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
McCormick provides evidence of training and financing activities to support farmers and small-scale producers in developing countries by 2025 through its Partnering with Purpose programmes. However, the company can strengthen its performance by measuring the outcomes and impact of a proportion of its support activities.

While McCormick discloses that it has a grievance mechanism accessible to both workers and external parties, it does not provide sufficient disclosure on most other human rights-related indicators. This includes information on how it identifies and assesses human rights risks and impacts and integrates and acts on these, as well as how it engages with potentially affected stakeholders. Moreover, McCormick should look to strengthen its commitment towards both human rights and workers rights.

McCormick discloses public information on health and safety fundamentals but could improve its performance by disclosing the main types of work-related injuries and number of hours worked. Similarly, the company could improve on gender equality by disclosing a public commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. There is a lack of sufficient information on all other topics regarding providing and promoting decent work, including commitments to paying a living wage, regulating working hours and collective bargaining fundamentals, offering the company an opportunity to increase its level of disclosure in these areas to improve its performance

McCormick discloses information on most indicators related to acting ethically as a business, including a data protection policy which details the mechanisms available to users to understand the information the company has collected about them. Moreover, the company provides some disclosure on anti-bribery policies and responsible lobbying fundamentals. However, it can improve by increasing the level of disclosure in these areas, including the process(es) to identify its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities in its own operations. Lastly, insufficient information was found regarding responsible tax policies, including a global tax strategy that has been approved by the highest governance body.