General Mills

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

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
General Mills has set a target to reduce absolute GHG emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3) by 30% by 2030 (compared to 2020). The company also states that by 2050, it will achieve net-zero GHG emissions in the full value chain. The target to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions is aligned with the 1.5-degree trajectory. The company reports progress against its targets.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company has developed a strategy to adopt regenerative agriculture in farming and ranching practices. The goal is to advance regenerative agriculture on 1 million acres of farmland by 2030. General Mills will measure the environmental outcomes of its regenerative agriculture activities across five key areas: biodiversity, water management, soil health, farmer livelihood, and cow and herd well-being (in dairy operations).

Plastic use and packaging waste
General Mills has set a target to design 100% of packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030, and it further demonstrates that 88% of its US and 72% of its European and Australian packaging is already recyclable. Moreover, the company partners with several industry organisations to increase awareness of sustainable packaging options and to improve recycling effectiveness and availability.

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
The company sets time-bound targets for most of its material topics and regularly reports against them. Specifically, General Mills has set time-bound commitments regarding GHG emissions, water withdrawals, sustainable sourcing and regenerative agriculture. However, the company can improve its performance by setting time-bound targets for all of its material topics.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company has a Sustainability Governance Committee and oversight of the company’s sustainability work is provided by the board of directors’ Public Responsibility Committee. The company can improve its reporting by describing in detail how the Public Responsibility Committee reviews and oversees the development of the sustainability strategy. Moreover, the company does not disclose the executive and/or board’s remuneration incentives regarding sustainability.

Stakeholder engagement
General Mills engages with different types of stakeholders and provides an overview of the issues raised. Within its engagement activities, the company covers sustainability topics across the three benchmark dimensions of environment, nutrition and social inclusion and its value chain. Moreover, it explains the process for identifying key stakeholders. Disclosure can be improved by describing how the outcomes of stakeholder engagement are integrated into the sustainability strategy.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystem
The company discloses deforestation and conversion-free targets for palm oil and cocoa. It also reports progress against the targets by disclosing the proportion of commodities covered by the commitments. General Mills can improve its disclosure by increasing transparency regarding its soya purchases.

Water use
General Mills has set a target to reduce its water withdrawals by 1% annually across its own operations. However, the company has registered an increase in water withdrawals, failing to meet its target. Water stewardship remains a key priority for the company, which has developed an approach to address risk in watersheds across its global supply chain.

Animal welfare
The company has an animal welfare policy that applies to all animals in its supply chain. While the commitment addresses key issues for broiler chickens, the company lacks public disclosure on addressing specific animal welfare issues for the rest of its relevant species (i.e. cows and pigs).

Availability of healthy foods
While the company provides evidence of introducing reformulated products (e.g. ‘nutrition-dense food” like low-fat, non-fat yoghurts and fortified cereals), it lacks quantitative evidence of its effort to reduce the level of salt, fat and sugar across its products. Furthermore, the company discloses that 43% of its global volume met its Nutrition-Forward criteria in 2020. However, these nutrition criteria do not regulate the amount of sugar, fat and salt.

Accessibility of healthy foods
The company commits to addressing food insecurity by improving the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods, but it does not provide evidence of commercial activities designed to make healthy foods more accessible and affordable for vulnerable groups.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company demonstrates compliance with regulations regarding nutritional information in the countries where it operates, and it provides evidence of the adoption of front-of-pack labels in different countries. For example, the company states that in Australia, 100% of its products display nutrition intake information on front-of-pack labelling, consistent with the Australian Daily Intake Guide and International Food and Beverage Alliance requirements. General Mills can improve its reporting by disclosing more specific information on the proportion of products on which labelling commitments have been rolled out at the global level.

Child labour
The company commits to prohibiting child labour in its own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard. However, General Mills does not 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. 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 operations and supply chain.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company does not specifically recognise the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women and young farmers.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
General Mills has implemented several programmes to support farmers with regenerative agriculture practices (mainly in the United States). There are also programmes on other commodities like cocoa, vanilla, row crops and dairy. Among those, General Mills worked with more than 650 growers and data partners to collect and translate field-level practice data into aggregated environmental outcomes. The company can improve by disclosing the impact of those activities.

General Mills discloses policies and commitments across most topics under respect for human rights as well as evidence of a due diligence process that includes identification and assessment of corporate risks and impact. The company also has a grievance mechanism for its workers and third parties. However, there is an opportunity for General Mills to improve its disclosure on how it engages with affected stakeholders.

General Mills has in place commitments regarding several decent work issues and has started the journey towards ensuring healthy and safe workplaces. However, the company does not disclose a commitment to working hours in its operations and supply chain and does not report a commitment to collective bargaining. In addition, General Mills lacks disclosure on supporting the payment of a living wage to its workers.

While the company provides a policy statement on bribery and corruption, it can improve its disclosure by describing the process for identifying these risks and their impact in specific locations and activities. Moreover, General Mills lacks commitments on key ethical business topics, such as personal data protection, responsible tax and responsible lobbying and political engagement.