Aeon

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups.

Sustainable development strategy
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. Furthermore, it reports consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions mid-term targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Food loss and waste
The company discloses a target to halve food waste by 2025 compared to 2015 and reports progress made towards achieving this goal. Moreover, this target is aligned with SDG 12.3, which aims to reduce FLW by 50% by 2030. Additionally, the company participates in the WRI’s (World Resources Institute) Japan Project “10x20x30 Food Loss and Waste Initiative” which focuses on cutting food loss and waste in half by 2030. Moreover, it has established food recycling groups across Japan to convert the food waste generated at stores into compost and livestock feed that will be utilized in local communities.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company demonstrates its commitment by implementing policies and engaging in activities aimed at reducing plastic usage and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. For instance, it has formulated a plastic usage policy and promotes the reduction of plastic usage for product containers, packaging, and materials used in the sales process. Additionally, the company provides quantitative data on its progress towards plastic reduction and the adoption of sustainable packaging practices.

No leading practices were identified in the nutrition area.

Child labour
The company has a policy that requires its suppliers to prohibit the use of child labor and to verify the age of all workers that they hire.

Forced labour
The company prohibits the payment of any recruitment fees or related costs to secure a job, and it does not retain workers’ personal documents or restrict workers’ freedom of movement in its supply chain.

Act ethically
The company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a public expectation that its business relationships shall not require workers to work more than 48 hours in a regular work week or 60 hours including overtime. On gender equality and women’s empowerment, the company discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category and has set targets to increase the ratio of female managers.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement that outlines its commitment to respecting human rights, as well as a statement expecting their suppliers to respect ILO core labor rights. The company discloses its human rights due diligence process by describing how it identifies and assesses human rights risks and impacts throughout their operations and supply chain, as well as what they consider to be their most significant human rights risks. Moreover, the company provides a case study that illustrates how they have taken action to address a significant human rights risk.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company has an opportunity to link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover environmental and social issues. Furthermore, it could disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Lobbying and advocacy
The company has an opportunity to disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member. Furthermore, it could provide a clear and detailed framework for assessing the alignment of these trade associations with its sustainability targets and report any (potential) misalignments between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and its sustainability targets.

Stakeholder engagement
The company has an opportunity to disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Sustainable development strategy
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate and social inclusion, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
There is an opportunity for the company to disclose a time-bound target for reducing its scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions and report related progress. Moreover, it could report quantitative reductions across its scope 1, 2 and 3 gas emissions.

Animal welfare
The company has an opportunity to disclose animal welfare targets that are applicable to all species, geographies and products.

Ecosystem conversion
The company discloses some evidence of addressing conversion. However, this does not guarantee deforestation and conversion-free-aligned practices. While it has a target to achieve conversion-free supply chains, certification models are not specified.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
While the company discloses that it had set a target to procure 5% of organic products in 2020, it has an opportunity to update the target and report progress against it.

Sustainable fishing and aquaculture
The company has an opportunity to provide measurable evidence of its improved sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices. Additionally, it can disclose specific targets for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture across its entire portfolio and provide regular updates on its progress towards achieving these targets.

Water withdrawal
The company has an opportunity to enhance its disclosures relating to water use and withdrawal.

Accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods
The company has an opportunity to disclose its commitment and commercial activities to improve the accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company has an opportunity to demonstrate how it is improving the nutritional quality of its products and to set targets to increase the share of more nutritious products in its portfolio.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company has an opportunity to disclose how it provides nutritional information on its products and how it supports consumers with making healthy food choices through its labelling schemes.

Food safety
The company has an opportunity to demonstrate that 100% of its own operations are certified to a GFSI food safety scheme/certification programme or other widely recognised (industry-specific) certification. Additionally, the company can reveal the percentage of its food suppliers that are certified to a GFSI-recognized food safety scheme.

Responsible marketing
The company has an opportunity to disclose its commitment to responsible marketing and its marketing activities to promote healthy food options.

Workforce nutrition
While the company has health and wellbeing promotion programs for its employees it has an opportunity to enhance the program by incorporating nutrition-focused health checks or nutrition education. It could also disclose the length covered by its childcare leave policy, as well as any other breastfeeding supports such as dedicated breastfeeding rooms or flexible working hours for breastfeeding mothers. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to implement a programme to offer healthy food options to its employees.

Child labour
The company currently discloses the issues that need corrective actions regarding child labour in its supply chain. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement by also disclosing specific examples of remediation programs implemented when instances of child labour are discovered within its operations. Additionally, it could highlight efforts to enhance the capacity of its suppliers in order to prevent any negative impacts associated with child labour.

Farmer and fisher livelihoods
The company discloses that it is working to expand its organic agricultural products and supports organic vegetable farmers but it could demonstrate how it improves farmers’ income resilience through its procurement practices and supply chain relationships. Also, it has an opportunity to identify living income benchmarks and assess living income gaps for some regions or commodities.

Forced labour
For its operations, the company has an opportunity to prohibit the use of recruitment fees or related costs to secure a job, retaining workers’ personal documents or restricting workers’ freedom of movement. Furthermore, it could indicate how it is building the capacity of its suppliers to prevent forced labour impacts.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company has an opportunity to recognise and assess the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women and young farmers. Furthermore, it could provide evidence of support activities that improve the health and safety of vulnerable groups.

Land rights
The company could disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGT’s or the IFC Performance Standards. Moreover, it has an opportunity to require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rights holders and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

Living wage
The company has an opportunity to set a target for paying a living wage across its direct suppliers and describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it sources. Also, it could disclose the percentage of workers across its own operations or direct suppliers that are paid a living wage.

Act ethically
The company has an opportunity to disclose a publicly available policy statement prohibiting bribery and corruption, as well as its process for identifying these practices in its operations and a grievance mechanism which allows stakeholders to raise related complaints. Further, the company could clarify its stance on lobbying and political engagement in a public policy document, specify that it does not make any political contributions, and divulge how much it spends on lobbying activities.

Provide and promote decent work
While Aeon states it will support the health of employees, the company could to disclose a policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of workers as well as how it monitors the health and safety performance of its suppliers. Furthermore, the company has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage, describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates, and how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. Finally, Aeon has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its workforce. Further, the company could work towards increasing the representation of women on its highest governance body.