Asahi Group

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups. Furthermore, its stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, nutrition and social issues.

Sustainable development strategy
The company has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain. Furthermore, it reports consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has set specific time-bound targets to reduce both its scope 1 and 2 emissions. Progress against these targets is regularly reported. Furthermore, the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions targets are in line with a 1.5-degree trajectory, emphasizing its commitment to minimizing environmental impact. Additionally, the company has also established a time-bound target for reducing its scope 3 emissions.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company demonstrates commitment, has policies or partakes in activities related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. The company also discloses quantitative data with regards to plastic use reduction and use of sustainable packaging.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices.

Water withdrawal
The company discloses the amount of water it withdraws for its own operations in water-stressed areas. Additionally, the company actively collaborates with its suppliers to minimize water withdrawal.

No leading practices were identified in the nutrition area.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion area.

Act ethically
The company discloses a global tax strategy. Additionally, the company has a strict policy in place that prohibits bribery and corruption. It also ensures that contracts with direct business relationships contain explicit anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses. Suppliers are expected to comply with widely accepted business practices regarding matters such as entertainment or gifts, and are required to actively work against corruption.

Provide and promote decent work
The Asahi Group has a publicly available policy statement in which they pledge to prioritize the health and safety of all workers. The company disclosed that 65.1% of its employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements in 2021. Additionally, it not only requires its suppliers, but also their subcontractors, to prioritize the health and safety of their workers.

Since 2021, the company has been a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles, demonstrating their commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The company provides information on the gender proportions in managerial positions, such as directors, audit & supervisory board members, and corporate officers. They also disclose the breakdown of genders among their total employees and board of directors. Furthermore, the company has set a target to increase female representation to 40% by 2030, which they have made public.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement that commits it to upholding the ILO core labor rights and respecting human rights. To ensure compliance with this commitment, the company conducts human rights due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles.

Specifically, the company focuses on identifying human rights risks within its supply chain. To aid in this process, the company enlisted the services of RightsDD Limited, who conducted an impact assessment in the coffee industry in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The company demonstrates its commitment to addressing salient human rights issues by taking proactive actions. For example, the company conducted surveys and interview to improve labor conditions and combat forced labor. Furthermore, the company actively engages with stakeholders whose rights may be impacted. The company maintains a confidential whistle-blower scheme called the Clean Line System, accessible to all workers, allowing them to raise complaints or concerns.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability performance but can further link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. While stating that the board of directors has the expertise in ESG, there is an opportunity for the company to disclose whether its highest governance body has specific expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics including nutrition, climate, water, soil health, social inclusion, ecosystem conversion and biodiversity.

Lobbying and advocacy
The company states that it supports the United Nations Global Compact and cooperates with other companies in the alcohol beverage industry and trade association. However, it could disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member for all jurisdictions where it operates. Furthermore, the company has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets. Additionally, it can 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 states that it has a materiality assessment, it has an opportunity to disclose its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics and impacts, including how external stakeholders are involved in the process.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has reported an increase in Scope 3 emissions due to incomplete data from the previous year. However, the company still has the opportunity to report progress against these Scope 3 targets. It is important to note that while the company’s Scope 3 targets are aligned with a 2°C trajectory, they do not fulfill the requirement of a 1.5°C trajectory.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
While the company discloses a target to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals, it has an opportunity to report progress against the target. It can also disclose a target to minimise the use of pesticides in its production and/or sourcing practices, and report progress against it.

Food loss and waste
The company has the chance to disclose its FLW reduction target(s) and report on the progress made towards achieving this/these target(s). Additionally, the company has an opportunity to align its FLW reduction goal with SDG12.3, which aims to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company has an opportunity to disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and report progress against it.

Water withdrawal
The company has reported an increase in water consumption. Although it does disclose reduction targets for water consumption, absolute water use, and/or water intensity, it has an opportunity to also disclose a target for reducing water withdrawal in its own operations and report progress on this target.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company currently provides examples of reformulated products. However, there is potential for improvement in reporting its overall efforts to reduce sugar and salt, and/or increase the presence of positive nutrients in its entire portfolio. Additionally, there is an opportunity for the company to set a sales-based target to increase the proportion of more nutritious products according to government-endorsed or externally validated nutritional guidelines.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company 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
The company has the opportunity to showcase that all of its own operations are certified to a GFSI food safety scheme or other widely recognized certification program specific to the industry. Additionally, the company can disclose the percentage of food suppliers that are certified to a GFSI-recognized food safety scheme.

Responsible marketing
The company has an opportunity to disclose a responsible marketing policy that covers all media channels, aimed at reducing children exposure to alcohol marketing and limiting the appeal of alcohol marketing.

Child labour
The company has identified the possibility of child labour due to the large number of small-scale farmers and the absence of schools in rural areas. However, it could disclose examples of remediation programmes when a case of child labour is found and indicate how it is building the capacity of its suppliers to prevent child labour impacts. While the company prohibits suppliers from using child labour, it could require them to have an age-verification system in place.

Forced labour
The company has an opportunity to disclose forced labour requirements for its operations and supply chain such as a prohibition to pay recruitment fees, to retain workers’ personal documents or to restrict workers’ freedom of movement. Further, it could provide evidence of how it builds 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 does not 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 could 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 suppliers that are paid a living wage.

Act ethically
The company should provide a clear description of its process for identifying bribery and corruption risks and their impacts, specifically in relation to its own operations in certain locations or activities. It is also important for the company to ensure that its mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns about bribery and corruption is accessible to all stakeholders.

Additionally, the company has an opportunity to develop a policy that outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement. While the company states that it follows its own procedures and complies with laws and regulations when making political contributions, it would be beneficial for them to disclose whether these contributions are only made by exception and the criteria for making them.

Moreover, the company could disclose its expenditures on lobbying activities. It could also require third-party lobbyists to comply with the company’s lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has an opportunity to disclose whether it has established a time-bound target for ensuring all workers receive a living wage or if it has already achieved this goal. Additionally, the company has an opportunity to explain its process for determining what constitutes a living wage in the regions where it operates. While the company expects its suppliers to pay a living wage, it also has the opportunity to provide details on how it actively supports and encourages this practice.

Regarding gender diversity, the company currently has 3 out of 13 board members who are female, resulting in a representation of women on the board at 23.07%. The company has an opportunity to increase female representation to at least 30%.

Lastly, the company can disclose the ratio of basic salary and other remuneration between women and men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category, specifically in significant locations where it operates.

Respect human rights
While the company expects its suppliers to respect specific workers’ rights, it has an opportunity to reference all the ILO fundamental rights at work. Although the company discloses that it conducts human rights risk assessments and remediates in Japan, it should also consider disclosing a global system to address all its salient human rights issues in all of its activities.