Central Retail

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

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.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Food loss and waste
Between 2021 and 2022, the company witnessed a decrease in the amount of food loss and waste (FLW) generated. This reduction aligns with the company’s goals to reduce FLW, which are in line with SDG 12.3 (50% reduction in FLW by 2030).

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company demonstrates its commitment to reducing plastic use and transitioning towards sustainable packaging through its policies and participation in related activities. It also discloses quantitative data regarding its plastic use reduction and utilization of sustainable packaging.

Water withdrawal
The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas.

Workforce nutrition
The company has a programme/policy for workplace breastfeeding support (i.e. provision of lactation facilities and flexible working hours for nursing mothers).

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 operations.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company recognises the specific health and safety risks to vulnerable groups such as female and pregnant employees.

Act ethically
The company discloses a public commitment to protect personal data, and discloses a global tax strategy. Additionally, the company maintains a policy  prohibiting bribery and corruption. It has a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints regarding such misconduct. Moreover, the company undertakes risk assessments to identify potential bribery and corruption risks. These assessments encompass impact measurement criteria, risk identification, and measures for risk mitigation.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy commitment on worker health and safety in its operations and supply chain, and discloses how it monitors supplier compliance. Additionally, the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group. Moreover, the company publicly commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights.

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
While the company discloses some trade associations, the company has an opportunity disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member for all jurisdictions where it operates. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets and to 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 how it engages with stakeholders and the outcomes of its stakeholder engagement, beyond materiality assessment.

Sustainable development strategy
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Furthermore, it could report consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company aims to decrease its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 30% compared to FY 2021 by 2030, yet it currently reports an annual increase. There is an opportunity for the company to align its scope 1 and 2 emission targets with a 1.5-degree trajectory, as well as reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the company can set a time-bound target for reducing its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

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

Ecosystem conversion
The company has an opportunity to disclose its efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion, including deforestation or restoration. The company could develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets.

Food loss and waste
While the company has set a FLW reduction target and also reports its progress, there has been a quantitative increase between 2020 and 2021.

Sustainable fishing and aquaculture
The company has an opportunity to provide evidence of a commitment to sustainable fishing and aquaculture. Specifically, the company can disclose quantitative evidence of its efforts to increase sustainability in fishing and aquaculture. Moreover, the company has the chance to disclose targets for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture that encompass its entire portfolio, and also report on the progress made towards achieving these targets.

Water withdrawal
The company has disclosed an increase in water withdrawal from 6670 megaliters in 2011 to 7364 megaliters in 2022 within its own operations. Additionally, the company has the chance to disclose a time-bound target for reducing water withdrawal within its own operations and report progress toward achieving the target. Moreover, the company has the opportunity to collaborate with suppliers to decrease water 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 currently provides examples of reformulated products. However, there is potential for improvement in reporting its overall efforts to reduce sugar, salt, and fat, and/or increase the presence of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains in its entire portfolio. Additionally, there is an opportunity for the company to adopt a nutrient profiling system and to set a sales-based target to increase the proportion of more nutritious products.

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

Responsible marketing
The company has an opportunity to provide evidence of marketing activities to promote heathier and more nutritious food options (in accordance with a government-endorsed or externally validated nutritional guidelines). Additionally, the company has the chance to disclose a responsible marketing policy specifically tailored to children that is aligned with international codes and guidelines and applicable across all media channels.

Workforce nutrition
The company has health and wellbeing promotion programs for its employees; however, there is an opportunity to enhance the program by incorporating nutrition-focused health checks or nutrition education. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to implement a programme to offer healthy food options to its employees and expand its nutrition initiatives to its supply chain workers.

Child labour
The company has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to prohibit child labour in its supply chain and an age-verification system for its value chain. Further, it could provide evidence of how it builds the capacity of its suppliers to prevent child labour impacts.

Forced labour
The company has an opportunity to disclose forced labour requirements for 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 identify vulnerable groups in relation to health and safety.

Land rights
The company has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights. Furthermore, it could describe a process at its operations and supply chain level to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders when acquiring, leasing or making other arrangements to use land 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 has an opportunity to include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships. Additionally, while the company has a publicly available policy statement setting out its political engagement approach, it has an opportunity to outline its lobbying approach, and divulge its expenditures on lobbying activities. Moreover, While the company states that it does not support any political party, group or politician, it has an opportunity to disclose in a policy statement that it does not make political contributions.

Provide and promote decent work
While the company states that it pays minimum wage to its employees and sets a similar expectation from its business relationships, it has an opportunity to commit to a time-bound target of paying a living wage. It could further explain its approach for determining a living wage in each region. Moreover, the company could mandate its suppliers to commit to the same wage standard, and elucidate their strategies for aiding suppliers in meeting this wage payment.

Additionally, it has an opportunity to commit to gender equality and women’s empowerment, unveiling time-bound targets related to these commitments, and disclosing information such as the women-to-men ratio in terms of basic salary and remuneration.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect specific workers’ rights in its operations and supply chain, but has an opportunity to reference all the ILO fundamental right at work.

Additionally, the company has recognized certain human rights risks and impacts within its operations. It now has a chance to outline its process for identifying these risks, not just in its own operations but throughout its supply chain. It can further explain the methods employed in identifying its salient human rights issues.

Moreover, while the company discloses that it determines preventive and corrective measures for those affected by human rights issues, it could disclose a global system to act on all its salient human rights issues in all its activities.