Sigma Alimentos

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups.

Sustainable development strategy
The company reports consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company works towards decreasing both its scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions.

Food loss and waste
From 2021 to 2022, the company managed to decrease the amount of food loss and waste (FLW) generated. The company not only sets clear FLW reduction targets, but it also provides regular updates on its progress towards these targets. It’s worth noting that the company’s FLW reduction targets are in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which aims for a 50% reduction in FLW by 2030.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company is actively involved in reducing plastic use and transitioning to sustainable packaging. They not only engage in activities related to these goals but also disclose quantitative data on their efforts. This includes information on both plastic use reduction and the adoption of sustainable packaging materials.

Water withdrawal
The company has taken steps to reduce water withdrawal through its own operations. Additionally, it reports on the amount of water withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. Furthermore, the company actively collaborates with suppliers to minimize water withdrawal.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company discloses the percentage of products and markets for which it has provided nutrition information on key relevant nutrients and portion- or serving-based information.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion area.

Act ethically
The company discloses a public commitment to protect personal data. Additionally, it reveals a global tax strategy and specifies an executive-level individual accountable for this strategy. Moreover, the company maintains a policy that prohibits bribery and corruption, along with an established grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise related concerns and complaints. Furthermore, the company divulges its policy statement outlining its approach to lobbying and political engagement.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting the health and safety of workers, and expects its business relationships to commit to the same. Additionally, the company is a signatory of Women’s Empowerment Principles, signifying its commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights. Furthermore, the company indicates it has a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted by the company.

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 its membership in some of trade associations, it has an opportunity to disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member of for all jurisdictions where it operates. Furthermore, it could provide a clear and detailed framework for assessing the alignment of these trade associations with its sustainability targets and 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 an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Sustainable development strategy
The company states that it has a materiality assessment but could further disclose its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics and impacts, including how external stakeholders are involved in the process. While it discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate and water, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. However, it has the opportunity to reports its progress in reducing absolute emissions.

Ecosystem conversion
The company has an opportunity to disclose activities and time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains.

Protein diversification
The company has an opportunity to set a sales-based target to increase alternative proteins across its portfolio, as well as report progress against this target.

Water withdrawal
While the company discloses reduction targets related to water consumption, absolute water use and water intensity, it has an opportunity to disclose a target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations and report progress against it.

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 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 set a sales-based target to increase the proportion of more nutritious products, aligning with government-endorsed or externally validated nutritional guidelines.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company has an opportunity to adopt front-of-pack labels or any other consumer- facing nutrition labels that support consumers with making healthier food choices. Additionally, it can disclose the percentage of products for which its front-of-pack labelling schemes have been rolled out.

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

Child labour
The company could provide examples of remediation programmes when a case of child labour is found in its operations and indicate how it is building the capacity of its suppliers to prevent child labour impacts. While the company has in place expectations on the prohibition of child labour for its suppliers, it could disclose related policy requirements including the use of an age verification system for the workers recruited.

Farmer and fisher livelihoods
The company has set up initiatives to improve the productivity of the farms but it has an opportunity to demonstrate how it improves farmers’ income resilience through its procurement practices and supply chain relationships. Also, it could identify living income benchmarks and assess living income gaps for some regions or commodities.

Forced labour
The company has an opportunity to disclose forced labour requirements for its operations and 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.

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 could outline the procedure it employs to identify bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. Furthermore, while the company expects its supplier to prohibit acts of bribery, it has an opportunity to strengthen this stance by including anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses within its contracts with business relationships.

Moreover, although the company already specifies its prohibition of political contributions according to local jurisdiction, it could clarify that it refrains from making political contributions across all locations. Additionally, the company could enhance transparency by disclosing its expenditures on lobbying activities.

Provide and promote decent work
The company states it has procedures in place to manage occupational health and safety risks, and routinely makes internal inspections to validate effectiveness of its health and safety practices. However, it could detail how it monitors the health and safety performance of its business relationships.

Furthermore, the company adheres to international and local laws for fair and equitable wages, and extends the same expectation to its business relationships. However, it has an opportunity to commit to paying a living wage by setting a time-bound target, and disclose how it determines a living wage for its operational regions. Additionally, it could require its business relationship to pay a living wage and detail how it supports this.

Moreover, the company has an opportunity to disclose time-bound targets on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and report the proportion of women on the highest governing body and the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect specific workers’ rights, and extending similar expectations to its business relationships. However, there is an opportunity to encompass all the ILO fundamental rights at work, both within its operations and supply chain.

Furthermore, while the company employs materiality assessment to identify primary business risks, it could describe comprehensively its process to particularly identify its human rights risks and impacts throughout its operations and supply chain. It could further describe its process for assessing and identifying what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. Moreover, the company could disclose a global system to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues.