ForFarmers

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

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities and the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
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 and reports consistently against all its targets.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains.

GHG emissions
ForFarmers has time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Additionally, it reports updates on its progress towards the scope 1 and 2 targets, successfully reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions.

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

Act ethically
ForFarmers provides a privacy statement regarding the use of personal data and a global tax strategy. It declares that it pays taxes in countries where its economic activity occurs and discloses its total tax contribution. Additionally, the company reveals the proportion of corporate income tax paid in each country.

For reporting concerns or complaints related to bribery and corruption, the company provides a website and contact number. It ensures that individuals can report without fear of reprisals. The website clearly states that anyone can make a report and offers the option to remain anonymous or identify themselves.

Provide and promote decent work
ForFarmers’ commitment to workers’ health and safety is evident in its policy statement, which is publicly available. The company also has a policy statement that emphasizes the importance of its business relationships committing to upholding the health and safety of workers. To ensure suppliers meet its requirements, the company will monitor their health and safety performance through a combination of self-assessment questionnaires and site visits conducted by its own staff and trusted third parties. Furthermore, the company publicly expects its business relationships to ensure that workers do not exceed 48 hours of work per regular work week, including overtime, with a maximum of 60 hours.

In terms of workforce demographics, the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age, gender and other indicators of diversity. With regards to gender representation in leadership positions, the company sets a time-bound target to increase the representation of women by at least 30% in both the Executive Board and the Executive Team by 2030. Currently, out of the six supervisory board of directors, two are female, resulting in a 33.33% representation of women on the board.

Respect human rights
ForFarmers has a publicly available policy statement that outlines its expectation for suppliers to uphold the core labour rights as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Furthermore, the company provides a website and contact number through which complaints or concerns can be raised, particularly those pertaining to human rights issues. This platform is easily accessible to all external stakeholders who may be negatively affected by the actions of the company.

Lobbying
The company has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing the alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets and to report (potential) misalignments.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While ForFarmers discloses some sustainability objectives/targets, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Also, although the company discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability, it could link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. Lastly, it could improve its performance by disclosing whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
ForFarmers lacks time-bound targets for achieving conversion-free supply chains and does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion. Additionally, there is a lack of commitment towards restoring ecosystems, and the company does not provide any disclosure regarding the specifics or outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas impacted by its operations or those of its suppliers.

GHG emissions
Crucially, ForFarmers’ targets need to align with a 1.5-degree trajectory. Furthermore, the company has an opportunity to report against its scope 3 emissions as well as reduce its scope 3 emissions.

Impact and dependencies assessment
ForFarmers states that it adopted the European Green Deal in 2020, which includes a strategic action plan for reducing carbon footprint and nitrogen emissions, improving animal welfare, and protecting biodiversity. Despite this, there is no evidence that the company assesses its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations. The company also does not disclose assessments of its impacts on nature in the supply chain, nor its dependencies on nature either within its operations or in 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
ForFarmers has an opportunity to disclose its inputs according to an international standard, and to report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company also has an opportunity to disclose activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices, to disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and to 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 show if it is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities.

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
ForFarmers has an opportunity to provide a clear description of how it identifies bribery and corruption risks in specific locations or activities, focusing on its own operations. Additionally, it could enhance its contracts with business relationships by incorporating anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses, accompanied by explicit consequences for breaches.

Furthermore, ForFarmers has an opportunity to develop a policy outlining its approach to lobbying and political engagement. This policy could be made publicly available and expressly state the company’s non-participation in political contributions. Moreover, the company could disclose its lobbying expenditures. Lastly, considering third-party lobbyists, the company could establish a requirement for adherence to its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
ForFarmers has an opportunity to go beyond paying minimum wage to its employees by setting a specific timeline to pay a living wage. It can also provide transparency by explaining how it determines what constitutes a living wage in the various regions where it operates. Moreover, the company can enhance its supplier expectations by requiring them to also pay a living wage and disclosing the support it offers to ensure compliance.

Additionally, though ForFarmers acknowledges the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment, it can further demonstrate its commitment by incorporating these principles into a publicly available policy document. Lastly, the company can promote transparency by revealing the ratio of the basic salary and overall remuneration of women to men in its direct operations workforce, categorized by different employee roles and significant locations of operation.

Respect human rights
ForFarmers has an opportunity to disclose a policy statement that commits to respecting fundamental human rights as declared by the ILO. Additionally, the company has a chance to describe the process it follows to identify human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities, including its own operations and supply chain. It could also outline its process for assessing and identifying its most significant human rights issues. Moreover, the company could also disclose a global system aimed at addressing, preventing, or mitigating its significant human rights issues.