Companies included in the food retailers segment own food retail outlets and directly sell consumer food and beverage products.
Six food retail companies feature among the top 25 in the benchmark. Tesco leads the segment, followed by Coles Group, Sainsbury’s, Orkla, Carrefour and Ahold Delhaize. The companies perform best in the governance and strategy measurement area, with leading practices set by Ahold Delhaize and Orkla in relation to disclosing holistic sustainability strategies that address key challenges in both their operations and value chain.
In environment, around 80% of companies disclose varying levels of commitments and action towards reducing food loss and waste and plastic use and packaging waste, with many going further by reporting progress against time bound targets. In nutrition, just over half of retail companies disclose commitments on food safety and clear and intuitive labelling. However, companies fail to report on responsible marketing strategies, with only 21% providing evidence of policies and even fewer disclosing supporting commercial activities. Similarly, around 76% of companies are yet to commit to promoting healthy foods, signalling room for improvement for the retail sector to support the availability of healthier foods for their customers. Social inclusion is the worst-performing measurement area, with few companies demonstrating detailed action on eliminating child and forced labour or ensuring the health and safety of vulnerable groups in their own operations and their supply chains. Nonetheless, around half of companies in scope report on their commitments towards improving farmer and fisher productivity and resilience.