Universal Robina

Sustainable development strategy
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices.

Water withdrawal
The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas.

No leading practices were identified in the nutrition area.

Farmer and fisher livelihoods
The company states that its mills partner with sugarcane planters and describes programmes to provide them with technical and financial support to address their major areas of concern.

Act ethically
The company has a publicly available policy statement prohibiting bribery and corruption, along with a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of workers. Moreover, it reports the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by gender and age group.

Respect human rights
The company indicates that it has a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and all 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
The company has an opportunity to report on its lobbying and advocacy practices on sustainability-related issues, and whether these activities align with its sustainability strategy.

Stakeholder engagement
The company has an opportunity to disclose how it engages with stakeholders, the issues raised during such activities, and the outcomes of its stakeholder engagement.

Sustainable development strategy
The company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including nutrition but could further establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Moreover, while it reports against some targets including nutrition, it has an opportunity to report consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has an opportunity to disclose reductions in Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, and set time-bound targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5 degree pathway.

Animal welfare
The company has an opportunity to set animal welfare targets applicable to all species, geographies and products.

Ecosystem conversion
The company discloses some evidence of addressing conversion. However, this does not guarantee DCF-aligned practices. It could disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
The company has an opportunity to disclose targets to optimise the use of fertilizers and minimise the use of pesticides in its production and/or sourcing practices, and report progress against the targets.

Food loss and waste
The company has the opportunity to disclose its FLW reduction target(s) and report progress against these targets. Furthermore, the company has the chance to align its FLW reduction goal with SDG12.3, which aims for a 50% reduction by 2030.

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
The company currently discloses the total volume of water withdrawn for a portion of its operations. However, there is room for improvement by showcasing a reduction in water withdrawal across all operations. In order to accomplish this, the company should consider disclosing a time-bound target for reducing water withdrawal and regularly reporting progress towards achieving this target. Additionally, the company should also take the chance to collaborate with suppliers in order to reduce overall water withdrawal.

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. In addition, it can disclose the percentage of products for which its front-of-pack labelling schemes have been rolled out.

Food safety
The company has an opportunity to demonstrate that 100% of its own operations are certified to a GFSI food safety scheme/certification programme or other widely recognised (industry-specific) certification. Additionally, it can disclose the percentage of food suppliers that are certified to a GFSI-recognized food safety scheme.

Responsible marketing
The company has an opportunity to disclose its commitment to responsible marketing and its marketing activities to promote healthy food options.

Child labour
The company has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to prohibit child labour in its supply chain and an age-verification system for its value chain. Further, it could provide evidence of how it builds the capacity of its suppliers to prevent child labour impacts.

Farmer and fisher livelihoods
The company has an opportunity to 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.

Land rights
The company has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights. Furthermore, it could describe a process at its operations and supply chain level to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders when acquiring, leasing or making other arrangements to use land and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

Act ethically
The company has an opportunity to include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships and establish a process to identify risks and impacts related to bribery and corruption.

Furthermore, the company could demonstrate ethical conduct by publishing a policy statement that outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement and emphasises its non-participation in political contributions, or alternatively, states the criteria of exceptions. It could also transparently disclose all lobbying expenditures.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to its operations and supply chain workers’ health and safety by disclosing a policy statement and providing evidence of monitoring suppliers’ compliance. Additionally, it could set a time-bound target for ensuring all workers receive a living wage, describe the living wage determination methodology, and disclose strategies to support suppliers in paying a living wage.

Furthermore, the company could commit to gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as disclose related targets. It could also disclose that it strives to have at least 30% women on the board of directors and report the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category, by significant locations of operation.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available statement committing to adhere to labour laws and human rights regulations in the workplace. However, there is an opportunity to formalise it in a policy document. Moreover, it could disclose a policy statement that respects the International Labour Organization (ILO) fundamental rights at work and extending this expectation to its business relationships.

Additionally, the company could describe the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in specific activities or locations, covering both its operations and supply chain, as well as the process for assessing and identifying its salient human rights issues. Moreover, the company could establish a global system to address these salient human rights issues by implementing preventive, mitigative, or remedial measures.