Barry Callebaut

Lobbying
Barry Callebaut discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Barry Callebaut 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 and reports consistently against all its targets. Furthermore, it provides evidence of linking performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Barry Callebaut discloses some activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company has a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion.

GHG emissions
Barry Callebaut has set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and these targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
Barry Callebaut shares information about its efforts to enhance soil health and promote agrobiodiversity in both its production and sourcing practices.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Barry Callebaut mandates that its business relationships must identify and acknowledge the Indigenous Peoples who may be affected by their projects. They also have to seek the free, prior, and informed consent of these communities regarding the decision to proceed with the projects and how they will be carried out.

Act ethically
Barry Callebaut has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. It also has a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints regarding bribery and corruption. Moreover, it also publicly commits to protect personal data.

Provide and promote decent work
Barry Callebaut has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting the health and safety of workers and expects its business relationships to do so. The company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group including the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. Additionally, it also discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Moreover, while it publicly commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment, it discloses a target to achieve the representation of women by 40% at the director level, 30% at the director level in Sales, and 50% local talents at the director level in countries of origin and emerging markets by 2025.

Respect human rights
Barry Callebaut has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and expecting its suppliers to do so. Moreover, it provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. Additionally, 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.

Lobbying
While the company discloses that its strategy is aligned with the World Cocoa Foundation, it has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets and to report (potential) misalignments.

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.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including social inclusion, climate, water and ecosystem conversion, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Furthermore, the company could improve its transparency by disclosing whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company has revealed some evidence that it is addressing conversion, but this does not necessarily imply adherence to DCF-aligned practices. There are no time-bound targets in place for achieving conversion-free supply chains, nor is there a commitment to ensure zero conversion. Additionally, the company has not expressed dedication towards restoring ecosystems. Details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects, concerning both its own operations and those of its suppliers, remain undisclosed.

GHG emissions
Although the company reveals that it has made progress towards its target for reducing absolute scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions, it acknowledges that its emissions actually increased over the past year. The company also discloses that its overall carbon footprint has grown compared to its previous report, highlighting the need to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and report progress against its scope 3 targets.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has an opportunity to disclose assessments of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations and in its supply chain. It could also disclose its dependencies on nature within its own operations and upstream business relationships.

Invasive species
The company has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations.

Key areas and species
The company has an opportunity to disclose locations within or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, both in its own operations and its supplier locations. It could also disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to both its own and its suppliers’ locations, as well as the conservation status of species identified at its own sites according to national and international lists.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company has an opportunity to disclose its inputs according to an international standard, and to report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. It could also disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and report progress against it.

Solid and air pollution
The company does not disclose relevant information related to pollution in its operations or supply chains.

Water
The company does not disclose relevant information related to water, in its operations or supply chains.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Also, it does not disclose its processes to identify and recognise the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, and describes how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company has an opportunity to commit to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders. Moreover, it should track its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities.

Act ethically
The company has a process for identifying bribery and corruption but could also disclose details of this process. Additionally, it has an opportunity to have a policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach. Moreover, while the company states that it does not make political contributions in its GRI Report, it could formalise this commitment in a public policy document. Furthermore, it can consider disclosing its expenditures on lobbying activities and could disclose that it requires third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
While the company discloses that it monitors the health and safety performance of its business relationships, it has an opportunity to disclose the ways in which it does so. While the company has set expectations on the wage paid by its suppliers, it could add a requirement for them to pay a living wage, and disclose how it supports the payment. It could further disclose how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. Also, in addition to paying minimum wage to its employees, it has an opportunity to commit to paying a living wage by setting a time-bound target.

The company has an opportunity to disclose that it has at least 30% women on the board and could disclose 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 policy statement committing it to respect specific workers’ rights, yet it could reference all the ILO fundamental rights at work. Moreover, it has an opportunity to describe the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities, covering its supply chain. While the company has conducted a human rights risk assessment, it could disclose how it identifies human rights risks and impacts and what it considers to be its salient human rights issues.

Additionally, it could disclose the results of its human rights risk assessment. Furthermore, it could disclose a global system to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues.