US Foods

Lobbying and advocacy
The company discloses some of its membership in industry groups. However, it has an opportunity to disclose a full list for all geographies where it operates.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Animal welfare
The company discloses evidence of animal welfare third-party certifications or audits. It also discloses a target that addresses animal welfare issues in its supply chain and reports progress against it.

Food safety
The company provides evidence that 100% of its own operations are certified to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognised food safety scheme.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion area.

Act ethically
The company discloses income tax payments for all its tax jurisdictions and has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption. Additionally, it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. To address any concerns or complaints related to bribery and corruption, the company has established a grievance mechanism for stakeholders.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement that emphasizes its commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of workers. Additionally, the company expects all of its business relationships to adhere to this policy and demonstrate their commitment to worker health and safety. The company also provides information on how it monitors the health and safety performance of its business relationships.

Moreover, the company discloses the percentage of its total direct operations workforce that is covered by collective bargaining agreements. It also discloses the percentage of women in each employee category within its total direct operations workforce. Furthermore, the company provides transparency by disclosing the percentage of its total direct operations workforce in each employee category based on race or ethnicity.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing to respect human rights. It also indicates that 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
The company has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets. Additionally, it can 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 by each stakeholder group during its stakeholder engagement activities and to describe its process, including frequencies and channels, for engaging with stakeholder groups beyond materiality assessment.

Sustainable development strategy
The company has an opportunity to disclose its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics and impacts. While it discloses certain sustainability objectives, including those related to climate, there is room to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Additionally, while the company reports against some targets, it has an opportunity to report consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company can take advantage of an opportunity to decrease its scope 1,2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, it has the opportunity to set time-bound reduction targets for scope 1,2 and 3 emissions in alignment with a 1.5-degree trajectory and report progress against these targets.

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 also has an opportunity to disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains.

Food loss and waste
The company has an opportunity to disclose its food loss and waste (FLW) reduction targets and report progress in achieving those targets. Additionally, the company can align its FLW reduction goal with SDG12.3, which aims for a 50% reduction in FLW by 2030.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company has an opportunity to disclose quantitative evidence regarding plastic use reduction and use of sustainable packaging.

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.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company has an opportunity to demonstrate how it is improving the nutritional quality of its products and to set targets to increase the share of more nutritious products in its portfolio.

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 menus for which its front-of-pack labelling schemes have been rolled out.

Food safety
The company has an opportunity to 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 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 an opportunity to identify living income benchmarks and assess living income gaps for some commodities and regions. Also, it could adopt procurement practices and develop supply chain relationships that improve farmers’ income resilience.

Forced labour
While the company does not retain workers’ personal documents, it has an opportunity to disclose similar commitments for its supply chain. Furthermore, it could prohibit the payment of recruitment fees or related costs in its value chain. To conclude, the company has an opportunity to indicate how it is building the capacity of its suppliers to prevent forced labour impacts.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company has an opportunity to recognise and assess the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women and young farmers. Furthermore, it could provide evidence of support activities that improve the health and safety of vulnerable groups.

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 has the opportunity to outline its process for identifying bribery and corruption risks and impacts within specific locations or activities, particularly related to its own operations. It could consider establishing a formal policy that articulates its approach to lobbying and political engagement.

While the company currently requires approval from the General Counsel for political contributions, it could enhance transparency by disclosing whether such contributions are made only under exceptional circumstances and specifying the criteria governing these decisions. In the spirit of openness, the company should disclose its expenditures related to lobbying activities, providing greater insight into its engagement with political processes.

Moreover, the company could reinforce its commitment to ethical lobbying practices by disclosing that it mandates third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work

The company currently pays its employees minimum wage, but it could enhance its commitment by setting a time-bound target to pay a living wage. It also has an opportunity to explain how it determines the living wage for the regions where it operates. Furthermore, the company could reinforce its ethical stance by requiring its suppliers to pay a living wage and disclosing the measures it takes to support them in achieving this.

In the pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment, the company can make a public commitment and set clear, time-bound targets. Additionally, it has the opportunity to disclose that it ensures at least 30% representation of women on its highest governing body. The company could also disclose the ratio of basic salary and remuneration between women and men across its direct operations workforce in various employee categories.

Respect human rights
The company could strengthen its commitment to human rights by issuing a formal policy statement that explicitly commits to respecting the human rights declared fundamental by the ILO. While the company currently discloses expectations for its suppliers regarding these rights, it has an opportunity to elevate this to a formal commitment within a dedicated policy document.

Additionally, the company should outline its process for identifying human rights risks and impacts within specific locations or activities, encompassing both its own operations and supply chain. This should also include detailing how it assesses and identifies what it considers its significant human rights issues.

Moreover, the company could demonstrate its dedication to human rights by disclosing the results of its human rights risk assessment. Lastly, the company could also reveal the existence of a global system aimed at addressing, preventing, or mitigating its significant human rights issues.