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Mueller

Founded in 1896, Mueller is a family-owned company and multinational producer of dairy products. The group sells mainly across Europe, including Germany, UK, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania. Müller operates through multiple subsidiaries that are engaged with the processing of milk and that sell products under brands such as Mueller, Weihenstephan and Sachsenmilch. Retail brands and basic dairy products, such as butter, milk, lactose powder and whey protein, complete the company's portfolio. The product range includes well-known brands in the chilled gourmet salad segment, sauces and fish specialties, such as Homann, Nadler and Lisner.

Summary

Mueller ranks 297th in the Food and Agriculture Benchmark. Overall, the company does not provide sufficient sustainability disclosure, and as a result sits towards the bottom of the ranking. While it provides evidence to tackle some key issues such as plastic and packaging waste as well as food safety, the company lags in all measurement areas. Unlike most of its competitors, the company lacks a comprehensive sustainability strategy and fails to tackle significant relevant environment issues including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or water use targets. Similarly, there is little evidence of commitments in both nutrition and social inclusion. There is a strong opportunity for Mueller to enhance its reporting as well as develop time-bound targets and activities on its sustainability strategy across all areas of the benchmark

Ranking position: #297/350
Total score: 2.6/100

Measurement area	Score	Rank (0-350)
Governance and strategy	#1 0.0 /10	#267
Environment	#1 1.4 /30	#271
Nutrition	#1 1.3 /30	#225
Social inclusion	#1 0.0 /30	#300

Segment	Rank
Agricultural products and commodities	#124
Food and beverage manufacturers/processors	#199

Segment ranking summary

Mueller sits towards the bottom of the ranking in all its segments. Among companies producing agricultural products and commodities and food and beverage processors, it performs respectively 124th and 199th. In general, the company lacks transparency. No relevant disclosure was found for the company in the governance and strategy and social inclusion measurement area. As a result, it significantly lags in all measurement areas compared to its peers.

Governance and strategy : No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.
Environment : No leading practices were identified for the company in the environment measurement area.
Nutrition : No leading practices were identified for the company in the nutrition measurement area.
Social inclusion : No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion measurement area.

Governance and strategy 

Sustainable development strategy
The company does not disclose a sustainable development strategy that includes sustainable development objectives and targets, nor an identification and prioritisation process to determine the topics where it has the most impact.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development strategy
The company does not disclose the governance structure for the implementation of its sustainable development strategy or targets, such as the person, team or committee that holds ultimate responsibility for its implementation.

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

Environment 

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company discloses a time-bound target to have 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025. It also aims to reduce virgin packaging material. However, it does not report against the target. There is an opportunity for Mueller to enhance its disclosure on the topic.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
The company does not disclose quantitative evidence to demonstrate that it is reducing its scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions.

Protein diversification
The company does not disclose that it is diversifying its protein portfolio, for instance, by increasing the proportion of plant-based proteins

Fertiliser and pesticide use
The company does not disclose that it is adopting sustainable production practices that optimise the use of fertilisers and pesticides.

Water use
While the company states it aims to recycle its own water, rather than having to draw from local supplies, the company does not disclose quantitative evidence or a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations.

Nutrition 

Availability of healthy foods
The company 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
The company does not disclose a commitment and activities to improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods for vulnerable groups.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company does not disclose that it provides nutritional information through clear, transparent and accurate labelling.

Food safety
While the company states that all ingredients meet the FSSC 22000 certification, it does not demonstrate that all its own operations are certified to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognised food safety scheme programme or other widely recognised certification.

Social inclusion

Child and forced labour
The company does not disclose a commitment to prohibit child and forced labour in its own operations.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company 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.

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

Land rights 
The company does not commit to recognising and respecting the legitimate tenure rights related to the ownership and use of land of local communities.

Respect human rights: No policies or commitments related to respect for human rights were found in the public domain. This includes the necessary policies and systems to respect basic human rights in its operations and supply chain.
Provide and promote decent work: No policies or commitments related to providing and promoting decent work were found in the public domain. This includes the provision of secure, safe and healthy workplaces, where workers are fairly remunerated and have a meaningful say in decision making.
Act ethically: No policies or commitments related to key ethical business topics – personal data protection, tax, bribery and corruption, and lobbying and political engagement – were found in the public domain. This includes ensuring ethical business conduct throughout its operations and in its relationships with business partners.

More about the company

Headquarters: Fischach, Germany
Food and agriculture revenue USD: 6,477,272,800
Group revenue USD: 6,477,272,800
Onwnership structure: Family-owned
Number of employees: 24,000
Website: https://www.muellergroup.com

This company is part of the SDG2000, the 2.000 most influential companies

See company profile

Mueller

Segment ranking summary

Leading practices

Governance and strategy

Environment

Nutrition

Social inclusion

Risks and opportunities

Governance and strategy

Environment

Nutrition

Social inclusion

Core social indicators

Respect human rights

Provide and promote decent work

Act ethically

More about the company

This company is part of the SDG2000, the 2.000 most influential companies