McCain Foods

Lobbying
McCain Foods discloses a list of associations of which it is a member. It has however an opportunity to further show leadership by disclosing a complete list of trade associations it is a member of for all jurisdictions in which it operates.

Stakeholder engagement
McCain Foods’ stakeholder engagement activities cover nature, nutrition, and social areas.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
McCain Foods 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. Furthermore, it has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain and reports consistently against all its targets.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
McCain Foods discloses some activities to minimise ecosystem conversion.

GHG emissions
McCain Foods has set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Additionally, its scope 1 and 2 target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
McCain Foods discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices. The company has a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and reports progress against it.

Solid and air pollution
McCain Foods demonstrates its commitment, partakes in activities and discloses quantitative data related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. It also has a target to reduce toxicity of pesticides, and reports progress against it.

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

Act ethically
McCain Foods discloses a public commitment to protect personal data 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 about bribery and corruption, and has formalised its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a policy statement.

Provide and promote decent work
McCain Foods has a publicly available policy statement committing to the health and safety of workers and expects its business relationships to do the same. It describes its methodology for determining a living wage in various operating regions. The company has set a target to achieve 40% female representation in global leadership roles by 2026 and currently has 30% women on its board.

Respect human rights
McCain Foods has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and provides a case study illustrating how it has addressed an issue related to salient human rights risks. It engages with stakeholders potentially affected by its activities and has indicated that it has a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted.

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 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 frequency and channels, for engaging with stakeholder groups beyond its materiality assessment.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability, it could link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. Furthermore, the company states that the board of directors has expertise in sustainability and climate. However, it has an opportunity to disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion or to ensure zero conversion. While the company has a target to achieve conversion-free supply chains, certification models are not specified so there is no guarantee that it is DCF-aligned. While the company discloses some evidence of addressing conversion, this does not guarantee DCF-aligned practices.

Furthermore, the company is not committed to restoring ecosystems and it does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

GHG emissions
The company should report progress against its targets and should reduce its emissions. Additionally, its scope 3 target needs to align with a 1.5- degree trajectory.

Impact and dependencies assessment
While the company collaborates with the University of Guelph on DNA meta-barcoding technology for soil and field insect biodiversity, and has a program focusing on regenerative agriculture, it has an opportunity to assess and disclose its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations. The company has implemented some regenerative agricultural practices with its growers but can further assess and disclose impacts on nature in its upstream activities. Additionally, it has an opportunity to assess and 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
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to work towards a circular economy or which organisms it exploits. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets.

Solid and air pollution
The company should commit to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties, as well as work on reducing the production of hazardous substances and waste. It has an opportunity to report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants and disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain. The company could also report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal.

Water
The company reports an increase in water withdrawal. It has an opportunity to set time-bound targets and engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. Additionally, it could disclose relevant information on water pollution. Furthermore, the company does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water nor its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

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 describe 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
While the company has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, it could formalise this stance in a public policy document and describe the process for identifying risks and impacts related to bribery and corruption in its own operations. Although the company makes political contributions after approval from the president and CEO, it has an opportunity to clarify if these are exceptional cases and to disclose the criteria used for such contributions. Additionally, the company could disclose its lobbying expenditures and specify that it requires third-party lobbyists to adhere to its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
While the company monitors the health and safety performance of its business relationships, it could disclose the specific methods used for this monitoring. Although the company pays its employees a minimum wage, it has an opportunity to set a time-bound target for paying a living wage. It could also require its suppliers to pay a living wage and disclose how it supports this. While committed to diversity, the company could formally commit to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Although the median and mean gender pay gap is disclosed for its UK operation, the company has not provided evidence that it discloses the ratio of basic salary and remuneration between women and men across all employee categories, by significant locations of operation.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing to specific workers’ rights, but could strengthen this by referencing all International Labour Organization’s (ILO) fundamental rights at work for both its operations and its suppliers. While the company conducts a materiality risk assessment and addresses modern slavery risks in its operations and supply chain, it has an opportunity to describe its process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities, beyond modern slavery risks. The company could also disclose its method for assessing what it considers to be its salient human rights issues, as well as the results of its human rights risk assessments. Although the company addresses modern slavery risks across its global supply chain, it has not provided evidence that it has a system to prevent, mitigate, or remediate all its salient human rights issues.