Kewpie Corporation

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

Food loss and waste
Kewpie Corporation discloses evidence of activities to reduce food loss in its operations and has set a 2030 target to reduce product disposal volumes by 50%. In addition, the company has a set a 2030 target to reuse 90% of unused portions of its main vegetables, such as the outer leaves of cabbages. The company reports on progress against both of these targets and could further improve by demonstrating it is engaging with value chain partners to prevent food loss and waste

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
As part of its sustainability strategy, Kewpie Corporation discloses objectives covering topics related to the environment, nutrition and social inclusion measurement area. The company discloses it has identified and prioritised these topics through a materiality assessment. While Kewpie Corporation sets time-bound targets related to the environment and nutrition, it has an opportunity to also disclose targets related to social inclusion.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
While Kewpie Corporation discloses that one of its directors is tasked with the implementation of its sustainability strategy, it has an opportunity to disclose information on the decision making processes, oversight responsibilities and accountability regarding sustainability.

Stakeholder engagement
Kewpie Corporation does not disclose stakeholder engagement activities, including how it selects the stakeholders, nor an overview of the topics discussed or their outcomes.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
For its domestic production factories and offices as well as transportations, Kewpie Corporation has set a target to a achieve a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 and reports on progress against this target. The company has an opportunity to disclose a scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions reduction target that covers all of its operations.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
While the company has commitments to achieve a deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) palm oil supply chain through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification programme, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets for achieving DCF supply chains for its relevant high-risk commodities.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
Kewpie Corporation discloses qualitative evidence of optimizing the use of fertilizer through partly using composted vegetable waste and eggshells. However, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets to increase the percentage of production from sustainable practices that optimise the use of fertilisers and pesticides and reporting on progress against these targets.

Plastic use and packaging waste
Kewpie Corporation discloses that it is reducing its plastic use and transitioning to sustainable forms of packaging, such as through adopting recycled plastic for a portion of its packaging. However, the company has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets to reduce plastic use or transition to more sustainable forms of packaging and reporting against these targets.

Animal welfare
While Kewpie Corporation addresses animal welfare for laying hens in its procurement guidelines, the company does not disclose that it is addressing key animal welfare issues for its relevant key species in its sourcing practices.

Availability of healthy foods
Kewpie Corporation does not provide evidence of improving the nutritional quality of its products and of proportionally increasing the sales of healthy and nutritious foods.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
Kewpie Corporation does not disclose a commitment and activities to improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods for vulnerable groups.

Clear and transparent labelling
While the company discloses a commitment of compliance with national regulations regarding labelling and commits to providing nutritional information on key relevant nutrients through back-of-pack labels, it has an opportunity to make nutritional information more visible to consumers through the adoption of front-of-pack labels or any other consumer-facing nutrition label.

Responsible marketing
Kewpie Corporation does not disclose a responsible marketing policy, nor guidelines specific to marketing to children.

Food safety
While the company discloses compliance with national regulations on food safety and reports that 82 of its sites are certified to a food safety scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by disclosing the percentage of its own operations that are certified to such a food safety scheme.

Child and forced labour
Kewpie does not disclose a commitment to prohibit child labour and forced labour in its operations and supply chain.

Living wage
Kewpie 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.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
Kewpie does not disclose a commitment or examples of activities to support the resilience, productivity and access to markets for farmers and/or small-scale producers in its supply chain.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
Kewpie does not disclose that it specifically recognises the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women, and young farmers.

Kewpie Corporation commits to respecting the human rights of its workers. While the company commits to protect workers from discrimination, it does not disclose a policy statement committing to respect the other ILO core labour rights in its operations and supply chain. Kewpie Corporation provides a grievance mechanisms for workers and third parties, but it is not specified whether the channel allows for anonymous reports. Moreover, the company does not provide evidence of a human rights due diligence process or disclose how it engages with affected and potentially affected stakeholders.

Kewpie Corporation discloses the proportion of its workforce for each employee category by gender but can improve its disclosure on other markers of workforce diversity, such as age and ethnicity. No commitments and reporting related to the other key decent work topics – health and safety, living wage, working hours, collective bargaining, and gender equality – were found.

Kewpie Corporation commits to protecting personal data, but does not disclose whether it allows users to retrieve a copy of the information it collects. The company prohibits bribery and corruption in its operations, but does not disclose whether it includes related clauses in its contracts with business relationships or how it identifies bribery and corruption risks. No policies setting out the company’s approach to lobbying and political engagement or global tax strategy were found and Kewpie Corporation does not publicly report on related expenses.