Campbell’s

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

Plastic use and packaging waste
Campbell’s has set itself a target to transition to 100% of packaging to recyclable or industrially compostable designs and materials by 2030. As part of this strategy, the company discloses the percentage of raw materials which are currently meeting this requirement and report progress against the 2030 target annually. Nonetheless, the company has yet to achieve 100% sustainable packaging, presenting an opportunity for the company going forward.

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
Campbell’s discloses sustainability objectives which align with the three measurement areas of the benchmark. Moreover, the company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics through a materiality matrix and how the outcomes of this process have been integrated into the wider sustainability strategy. Finally, the company discloses time-bound targets for its most relevant sustainability topics and reports against them. However, not all the company’s targets are long term and do not cover the entire value chain of the company, presenting an opportunity for the company.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
Campbell’s discloses that it has a sustainability steering committee who is responsible for the implementation of its sustainable development strategy. Moreover, the company provides a clear overview of the governance of the implementation of its sustainability strategy and discloses that accountability and oversight for its sustainability strategy lies with the highest governance body through the Board of Directors. However, no public information on remuneration policy regarding sustainability targets was found in the public domain for the company’s highest governance body.

Stakeholder engagement
Campbell’s provides an overview of its stakeholder engagement activities, including the stakeholders it has prioritised, how it has engaged them and the issues raised via the engagement process. The issues raised via the engagement covers sustainability topics across all three benchmark measurement areas. However, the company’s engagement activities, and issues raised via these activities, do not cover the company’s entire value chain, presenting an opportunity for future reporting.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
Campbell’s discloses the goal to reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 25% on an absolute basis by 2025, as compared to a baseline year of 2017. However, the company reports that GHG emissions have increased by 5% since the 2017. Going forward, the company should aim to reduce GHG emissions and disclose a GHG emissions target which is aligned with a 1.5 degrees scenario.

Food loss and waste
Campbell’s discloses a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030, as compared to 2017. The company reports that it has achieved a 14% reduction in food waste since 2017. The company therefore has a time-bound target to reduce food loss and waste across its own operations, and reports progress against it. However, there is a lack of evidence that the company looks to collaborate with value chain partners to prevent food loss and waste, presenting an opportunity for the company going forward.

Water use
Campbell’s has a target to reduce its water use by 20% on an absolute basis by 2025, as compared to a baseline of 2017. The company reports against this target annually and reports a 7% decrease since 2017. However, the company does not provide sufficient evidence of engaging with its supply chain to reduce water use, presenting an opportunity for the company going forward.

Availability of healthy foods
Campbell’s discloses quantitative evidence of efforts to reformulate products to have less sugar, salt and fat as well as to provide more products with wholegrains. Moreover, the company reports on sales from products with reduced negative nutrient and with increased positive nutrients. However, there remains an opportunity for the company to disclose a clear target for promoting healthier foods as well as an opportunity to be transparent on its definition of ‘healthy’.

Clear and transparent labelling
Campbell’s discloses a commitment to comply with national regulations regarding labelling and to provide nutrition information on key relevant nutrients, portion size and serving based information through back-of-pack (BOP) labelling. Moreover, Campbell’s discloses that it participates in front-of-pack (FOP) labelling systems, both voluntarily and where mandatory in markets it operates. However, there remains an opportunity for the company discloses the percentage of products for which labelling commitments (BOP and non-interpretive FOP) have been rolled out.

Food safety
Campbell’s discloses that in 2020, all of its internal manufacturing sites were Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certified. However, the company does not disclose information regarding suppliers who are also certified to similar food safety or industry certifications, presenting a risk for the company.

Child labour
While Campbell’s commits to prohibiting child labour in its own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard, and discloses that it requires suppliers to verify the age of workers in its supply chain, it has an opportunity to disclose a coordinated and consistent monitoring system for its own operations.

Forced Labour
Campbell’s commits to not using forced labour in its operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard. It also commits to respecting workers’ rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association in its own operations and supply chain. It has an opportunity to disclose a commitment that prohibits any form of intimidation of workers seeking to exercise these rights in its own operations.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
Campbell’s provides an overview of activities, including trainings and programmes that support farmers and small-scale producers. This includes partnerships to support farmers with transitioning to more sustainable agricultural practices, including trainings to optimise fertiliser use, reduce GHG emissions and water use. However, the company does not demonstrate that it is measuring the outcomes and impact of a proportion of its support activities, presenting an opportunity for the company going forward.

Campbell’s commits to respect both human rights and rights of workers in its operations and supply chain and provides a grievance mechanism for workers. However, no reporting was found on their implementation and monitoring, including around its grievance mechanisms for external parties. Moreover, the company does not provide public information across multiple human rights topics, including its due diligence system for identifying and assessing human rights risk as well as engaging with potentially affected stakeholders, presenting an opportunity for the company in future reporting.

The company provides public commitments and statements towards health and safety, gender equality and workforce diversity but can improve its performance by increasing its disclosure of key metrics related to these topics in the public domain. Moreover, there is a lack of sufficient public disclosure relating to living wage, regulating working hours and collective bargaining.

Campbell’s addresses key issues relating to anti-bribery and corruption through its publicly available Code of Business Conduct and Ethics document. To improve its performance, the company could increase the level of public disclosure on key metrics relating to personal data issues, tax and responsible lobbying or political engagement activities. For example, on tax, the company could disclose the amount of corporate income tax paid for each tax jurisdiction where the company is a resident for tax purposes.