Tiger Brands

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

Water use
By setting targets to reduce water withdrawals in its own operations, collaborating with its suppliers to reduce water withdrawals and carrying out water-stress assessments in its supply chain, Tiger Brands demonstrates leading practice in reducing water withdrawals.

No leading practices were found for the company in the nutrition measurement area.

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

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
Tiger Brands demonstrates that its board of directors is tasked with the ultimate oversight of its sustainability strategy and performance. In addition, the company has two committees to execute sustainability related-activities, such as the revision of policies and monitoring of environmental, social and governance issues, which report to the board on a quarterly basis. While Tiger Brands links executive and board-member remuneration to the management of sustainability-related issues, it is unclear whether the remuneration policy covers topics across the benchmark dimensions of environment, nutrition and social inclusion.

Sustainable development strategy
While Tiger Brands has prioritised sustainability focus areas – including health and nutrition, enhanced livelihoods and environmental stewardship – the company still lacks disclosure on an identification and prioritisation process to determine the topics where it could have the most impact.

Stakeholder engagement
Tiger Brands provides a list of key stakeholder groups and details how it engages with these groups, their material interests as well as its response to the material interests of each group. Nevertheless, the company does not disclose how it integrates outcomes from stakeholder engagement activities into its sustainability strategy.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
Tiger Brands reports on reductions of scope 1 GHG emissions and has set a 2030 target for a 15% decrease in emissions. However, the company does not report on reductions in its scope 2 GHG emissions nor disclose a relevant target. While the company discloses verified 2018 scope 3 GHG emissions through a third-party audit, no annual reporting on or target to reduce its scope 3 GHG emissions was found.

Food loss and waste
In partnership with the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, Tiger Brands set a 2020 target to commit to a food waste reduction programme. While the company further set a 2030 target to reduce food waste by 50%, no reporting against this target was found in the public domain.

Plastic use and packaging waste
Tiger Brands has set a target for 100% of its packaging to be recyclable by 2030. While the company reports on action taken towards this target, it has not yet disclosed a baseline assessment. The company also demonstrates it has migrated most of its beverages, home and personal care products to reusable and recyclable plastic packaging and aims to increase the share of recycled PET in these packages from 30% to 50% by the end of 2021. No evidence of engagement with value chain partners to reduce plastic use and transition to sustainable forms of packaging was found.

Availability of healthy foods
Tiger Brands demonstrates it is improving the nutritional quality of its products through reducing sugar and fortifying staple foods. However, the company has an opportunity to disclose quantitative information on these reformulation activities as well as to set targets to increase the sale of healthy foods.

Clear and transparent labelling
Tiger Brands has a commitment to comply with national regulations regarding labelling and has set a 2030 target for full compliance with the new South African front-of-pack nutrition labelling regulations. The company is working towards this target by ensuring full adherence to the on-pack food labelling requirements of its Eat Well Live Well and Be-Nutrient-Wise initiatives. However, the company does not report on the percentage of products for which nutritional information labelling has been rolled out.

Food safety
Tiger Brands demonstrates compliance with national regulations around food safety and indicates that its manufacturing facilities maintain certifications against the FSSC 22000 or the HACCP system. However, the company does not provide evidence that 100% of its own operations are certified to a food safety scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative nor report on the percentage of its suppliers that are certified to such a scheme.

Responsible marketing
Tiger Brands is a signatory to the Marketing to Children Pledge as part of the Advertising Regulatory Board Code of Advertising, which has various restrictions on marketing to children below 12 years of age. However, the company does not provide evidence of activities or quantitative information reflecting this commitment.

Farmer productivity and resilience
Tiger Brands demonstrates a commitment to farmer productivity and resilience by providing opportunities for inclusive economic participation across its value chain. The company has a specific focus on supporting black/black-female farmers and enterprises, through its supplier and farmer development programmes as well as preferential procurement policies. The company also has a business incubator to support emerging black farmers and agri-processing enterprises. While Tiger Brands reports on the impact of some of its activities, it could further improve by reporting on the impact of all its support activities.

Child labour
Tiger Brands commits to prohibiting child labour in its own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard. However, the company does not demonstrate that it requires suppliers to have an age-verification system in place.

Forced labour
Tiger Brands commits to prohibiting forced labour in its own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard. However, no policy demonstrating that the company prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents and restricting workers’ freedom of movement was found.

Living wage
Tiger brands does not disclose evidence of paying its workers a living wage nor require its suppliers to do so. Moreover, no targets related to paying a living wage across the company’s operations or supply chain were found.

Land rights
In its ethical sourcing policy, Tiger Brands expects suppliers to respect land and tenure rights of indigenous people and local communities and follow the principles of free, prior and informed consent. However, the language the company uses indicates an expectation towards suppliers rather than a requirement. The company does have a grievance mechanism, which is open to external individuals and communities, for the reporting of land rights-related grievances.

Tiger Brands commits to respect human rights and ILO core labour rights in its operations and discloses a statement expecting its suppliers to respect ILO core labour rights. The company provides grievance mechanisms for workers and third parties and discloses its affected and potentially affected human rights stakeholders, although it does not demonstrate how it engages with these groups. While Tiger Brands indicates it will conduct human rights assessments, the company does not disclose its process for identifying and assessing human rights risks nor disclose how it integrates these assessments.

Tiger Brands commits to respecting the health and safety of its workers, expects the same of its suppliers and monitors their performance. However, it lacks reporting on the number and rate of high-consequence injuries in the workplace. Tiger Brands commits advancing gender equality and has set a target to increase female representation, but can further improve disclosure on gender pay gaps. Related to workforce diversity, the company reports on racial diversity but can improve disclosure on other markers of workforce diversity such as age. While it reports on collective bargaining agreements in its South African operations, Tiger Brands has an opportunity to disclose coverage for all its employees. No sufficient commitments related to living wage and working hours were found.

Tiger Brands commits to protecting personal data and has a privacy statement on its use. In addition, the company publicly discloses its global tax strategy and its bribery and corruption policy. However, it can improve disclosure on income tax paid per jurisdiction and its process to identify corruption and bribery risks. Tiger Brands also specifies that it refrains from making political contributions and reports on its lobbying expenditures, but no information on related requirements for third parties was found in the public domain.