SSP Group

Stakeholder engagement
SSP Group’s stakeholder engagement practices are leading practice amongst the companies within the benchmark’s scope. The company has disclosed its stakeholders, as well as their relevance and why they were identified. Furthermore, they have disclosed how its stakeholders have shaped its strategy, with a shift in its focus towards social inclusion issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company discloses it covers issues along its value chain and covering all dimensions relevant to the benchmark. The company is encouraged to maintain its stakeholder engagement practices.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the environment measurement area.

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 has begun the process of establishing a holistic and long-term sustainability strategy by conducting an identification and prioritisation process through which it has defined the sustainability topics that are most relevant to its operations and its supply chain. While company set out to update its sustainable development strategy in the last fiscal year, it has not yet finished its process and no time-bound targets have been disclosed. The company is encouraged to continue its strategy-setting process.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company has disclosed that responsibility and oversight of sustainable development strategic topics lie within its highest governance body. SSP discloses that both the group’s board and executive committee are responsible for each of its corporate responsibility commitments and key performance indicators. However, while the company has the intention to add sustainability related metrics to its remuneration policy, it has not yet disclosed on this element and is therefore encouraged to do so.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
While the company discloses quantitative evidence to demonstrate that it is reducing its scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets and reporting against them.

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

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
The company does not disclose activities aimed at achieving deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) supply chains for its relevant high-risk commodities. It has an opportunity to increase its disclosure on commitments to source its high-risk commodities through recognised certification programmes.

Food loss and waste
While the company is addressing food loss and waste in its own operations through careful design of menus, as well as via initiatives like Too Good To Go and Karma, it has an opportunity to disclose a commitment by setting targets to reduce food loss and waste across its own operations and its supply chain and reporting against these targets.

Plastic use and packaging waste
While the company discloses that it is reducing its plastic use and transitioning to sustainable forms of packaging, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets to reduce plastic use and transition to more sustainable forms of packaging and reporting against these targets.

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.

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

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

Food safety
While the company discloses evidence that some sites of its own operations are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme, it does not demonstrate that all its own operations are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme.

Child labour
While the company commits to prohibiting child 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. 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 own operations and supply chain.

Living wage
The company requires its suppliers to pay their workers a living wage and supports this practice in its supply chain. However, the company has not set a target to pay all workers in its own operations a living wage.

Farmer and fisher 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 and/or small-scale producers in its supply chain.

SSP has disclosed a commitment to respecting ILO core labour rights. While SSP Group has disclosed further statements covering other key elements regarding human rights, its disclosures do not comply with best practices related to this topic and it is not clear they cover all the company’s operations. Furthermore, no sufficient publicly available evidence was disclosed regarding its grievance mechanisms.

SSP Group provides some disclosures regarding its business ethic practices, working hours and health and safety statements are in place for its supply chain, and some key metrics are publicly available on workforce diversity, gender equality. While the company mentions living wages in some statements, the evidence was not compliant with best practices in this area. As such, it is not possible to assess that SSP Group is committed to guaranteeing a secure, safe, and healthy workplaces.

SSP Group publicly discloses policies and commitments on personal data protection. However, no relevant policies or commitments on other key ethical business topics – tax, bribery, and corruption, and lobbying and political engagement – were found in the public domain.