Blue Diamond Growers

Lobbying
The company discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Blue Diamond Growers 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.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company publicly shares its efforts to enhance soil health and promote agrobiodiversity in its production and sourcing practices, for example by utilizing the resources of California Almond Stewardship Platform, a program comprised of hundreds of best practices that include soil and has been benchmarked to the internationally recognized Sustainable Agriculture Initiative.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion and community impact area.

Provide and promote decent work
The company discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. The company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by race or ethnicity.

Lobbying
The company 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 does not disclose how it engages with stakeholders, nor the issues it raises during such activities.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company has an opportunity to disclose group wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain and report consistently against all its targets. Concerning accountability of its sustainability strategy, while the company states it has a sustainability committee, it could disclose having persons, teams or committees who are responsible for the implementation of its sustainability strategy and assign decision-making and oversight responsibility for its sustainability strategy to the highest governance body. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues and disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion, including deforestation, or promote restoration. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets.

GHG emissions
Blue Diamond Growers should set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions as well as report progress against them. Crucially, the company needs to reduce its scope 1,2 and 3 emissions and its targets need to align with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

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 also has the opportunity to 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 existing 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 does not disclose its inputs, such as its material footprint, and it also does not report quantitatively on its overall circularity performance. The company has the chance to enhance transparency by disclosing a target for improving soil health in its production or sourcing practices and providing updates on the progress made towards this goal.

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 show if it is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company discloses that it is committed to strengthening the well-being of the communities it serves. However, it 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 an opportunity to disclose a policy on bribery and corruption with anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its business relationships’ contracts. Additionally, it can establish a process to address these issues, along with a grievance mechanism for stakeholder complaints. Moreover, the company can demonstrate ethical practices by disclosing its approach to lobbying and political engagement, clarifying its non-participation in political contributions, and transparently revealing 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.

Although the company discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category, it could also disclose the representation of women on the highest governance body and the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to disclose a policy statement committing to respecting human rights and the fundamental rights at work declared by the ILO in its operations and supply chain. Additionally, the company could describe a comprehensive process for assessing and identifying human rights risks and impacts across all its activities and supply chain, and its salient human rights issues. It could specify what it considers to be salient human rights issues, how relevant factors are considered such as geographical, economic and social factors, and how it acts to prevent, mitigate or remediate its salient human rights issues through a global system.