Danish Crown

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

Animal welfare
Danish Crown has a globally applicable animal welfare policy which addresses multiple welfare issues, including tail docking, teeth clipping, castration and the use of boxes and farrowing pens. The company sets out clear expectations for compliance by its cooperative members in its code of practice. It also provides details on its third-party auditing processes, including through the organic KRAV scheme in Sweden. One element where Danish Crown could improve relates to setting targets against its policy, but the company reports that such targets are currently being formulated.

Antibiotic use and growth-promoting substances
The company’s animal welfare policy also outlines a position stating that both the use of antibiotic growth promoters and the prophylactic use of antibiotics is not permitted across the entirety of its farming operations. Furthermore, Danish Crown discloses a target to breed 1.5 million pigs completely free of antibiotics by 2021, building on a trial which began two and a half years ago.

Plastic use and sustainable packaging
The company has time-bound targets for its packaging materials to be 90% recyclable and made from 50% recycled materials by 2023, reporting initiatives and quantitative data in support of these. Danish Crown also reports that it had developed climate-friendly packaging solutions for its beef, veal and bacon products and demonstrates that it is working with partners across its value chain to tackle the packaging issue holistically.

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
Danish Crown’s five sustainability target areas cover objectives and topics across all three benchmark measurement areas, demonstrating the company’s recognition of the holistic role it plays in transforming the food system. The company also conducts an annual materiality assessment to identify and prioritise its most relevant topics, but it does not set targets for all the major topics identified.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company’s senior management reports to the board of directors on progress towards its 2030 and 2050 sustainability goals. Danish Crown has also set up a Sustainable Farming Board to help implement its sustainability strategy among the company’s farmers. However, it does not disclose information related to its remuneration policy and whether it includes sustainability-related incentives for those responsible for its strategy.

Stakeholder engagement
While the company has conducted stakeholder engagement activities and discloses an overview of the issues raised via these activities, it has an opportunity to disclose how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders, along with information on how the outcomes of the engagement process are integrated into the company’s sustainable development strategy.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
Danish Crown has a target to use 100% responsibly produced soya for feed at its Danish suppliers by 2025. It also has a target to eliminate indirect palm oil in its feedstuff value chain by 2023. This includes a commitment that, by 2022, 50% of all physical palm oil or palm oil derivative that is part of the company’s value chain will be replaced by more sustainable alternatives. The company has an opportunity to disclose progress against these targets or the proportions of currently sourced commodities which are deforestation-free.

Protein diversification
The company is committed to diversifying proteins within its product portfolio, launching plant-based ranges under its Sokolow and Tulip brands in Poland and Denmark respectively. It could further improve its performance by devising sales-based targets for plant-based products as a proportion of its total portfolio.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
Danish Crown has set targets to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The company reports progress against these targets over the period between 2017-2020, but it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by aligning its targets with the 1.5-degree warming trajectory.

Availability of healthy foods
The company does not disclose a commitment or activities to increase the availability of healthy and nutritious foods.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
The company does not disclose a commitment to address food insecurity by improving the accessibility and affordability of healthy and nutritious foods.

Responsible marketing
The company does not disclose a responsible marketing policy, nor guidelines specific to marketing to children.

Food safety
While Danish Crown reports that it has self-check food safety programmes based on hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), it does not disclose the percentage of its operation sites which are certified to a Global Food Safety Initiative or similar standard. It could further improve its performance by disclosing similar data for its supply chain, where relevant.

Farmer resilience
Danish Crown is committed to supporting its cooperative farmers and reports that 34% of cooperative members have received advice through its advisory programme since its launch in 2020, an increase from 32% in 2019 and 29% in 2018. The company has an opportunity to strengthen its performance by disclosing further information or quantitative data on the impact of these activities.

Child labour
While the company commits to prohibiting child and forced labour in its own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard, it has an opportunity to disclose a policy requiring its suppliers to have an age-verification system in place.

Forced labour
The company commits to not using forced labour in its operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard. While the company requires its suppliers to respect workers’ rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association and to not interfere with workers seeking to exercise these rights, it has an opportunity to disclose further information on how it monitors compliance within its supply chain.

Living wage
Danish Crown does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its suppliers to do the same. Neither has it set targets to do so in the future.

Danish Crown has a commitment to respect human rights and the ILO core labour rights and discloses a public policy statement that expects the same of its business relationships. The company also has a grievance mechanism that is accessible to both workers and external stakeholders. However, the company could improve its score by increasing disclosure on its efforts to identify, assess and take action on its human rights salient risks. Similarly, it does not disclose how it engages with stakeholders whose human rights are potentially or actually impacted by its activities.

The company discloses commitments to respect the health and safety of workers in both its own operations and supply chain, and it reports on the gender diversity of its board of directors. While it commits to freedom of association and collective bargaining in its own operations and supply chain, it does not disclose the proportion of its workforce covered by such agreements.

Danish Crown commits to protecting personal data and has an accompanying privacy statement. It also discloses an anti-corruption policy with an associated grievance mechanism through which internal and external stakeholders can report violations. Although the company has a tax policy, it could improve its score by disclosing more information on its approach to lobbying and political engagement, including lobbying expenditures.