Nisshin Seifun Group

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Nisshin Seifun Group reports consistently against all its targets.

GHG emissions
Nisshin Seifun Group discloses its target to reduce scope 1 and 2 emission 50% by 2030 and net zero by 2050 and reports progress against these targets. Additionally, the company reduces its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions.

Solid and air pollution
Nisshin Seifun Group demonstrates commitment, partakes in activities, and discloses quantitative data related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. It also reports on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. Additionally, the company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants.

Water
Nisshin Seifun Group reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas, and engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company reports a decrease in water pollution, and  regularly reports on water pollution.

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

Act ethically
Nisshin Seifun Group has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption.

Provide and promote decent work
Nisshin Seifun Group has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting the health and safety of workers. Furthermore, it discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category and has established a target to achieve at least 15% of management positions filled by women in fiscal year 2023.

Respect human rights
Nisshin Seifun Group has a publicly available policy statement committing to respect human rights and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) fundamental rights at work. It outlines its process for assessing human rights risks, using risk maps to identify high-risk items based on seriousness and potential occurrence. Moreover, the company discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues and has established a global system to prevent, mitigate, or remediate these issues. This system includes a description of how it applies to the supply chain. Additionally, the company reports the categories of stakeholders whose human rights may have been or could be affected by its activities, including foreign workers, employees, suppliers’ employees, consumers, and non-regular workers.

Lobbying
Nisshin Seifun Group does not report on its lobbying and advocacy practices on nature-related issues, nor whether these activities align with its sustainability strategy.

Stakeholder engagement
Nisshin Seifun Group 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 for engaging with stakeholder groups, beyond its materiality assessment.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Although Nisshin Seifun Group states that it has a materiality assessment in place, there is an opportunity to improve transparency by disclosing its process for identifying and prioritizing the most relevant sustainability topics and impacts. This should include information on how external stakeholders are involved in the process and the frequency of the assessment. While it reports some sustainability objectives/targets, such as social inclusion, water, and climate, there is room for establishing group-wide targets that focus on the most material aspects of its value chain. Furthermore, it could link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives encompassing both environmental factors, including biodiversity, and social issues. Lastly, although the company mentions that its board of directors possesses expertise in sustainability, it could improve its performance by disclosing whether the highest governance body has expertise specifically related 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
Nisshin Seifun Group should set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions as well as report progress against them. Crucially, the company needs to reduce its scope 3 emissions and all of its scope 1, 2 and 3 targets need to align with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Nisshin Seifun Group 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
Nisshin Seifun Group has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations.

Key areas and species
Nisshin Seifun Group 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
Nisshin Seifun Group currently provides some information on its inputs; however, there is room for improvement by offering more detailed insights. Additionally, the company does not provide quantitative reporting on its overall circularity performance. To enhance its transparency, the company has the opportunity to disclose its efforts in improving soil health or promoting agrobiodiversity in both its production and sourcing practices. Furthermore, the company can set a specific target for improving soil health in its production or sourcing practices and regularly report on its progress towards achieving this goal.

Solid and air pollution
Nisshin Seifun Group 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 also has an opportunity to disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

Water
Nisshin Seifun Group has an opportunity to further improve water withdrawal by setting a time-bound target. It has an opportunity to improve on its disclosure on water pollution by setting disclosing water pollutant metrics and setting time-bound targets to reduce them. The company does not disclose relevant information on rights to water in its operations or supply chains.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Nisshin Seifun Group does not show if it is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Nisshin Seifun Group 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
Nisshin Seifun Group has an opportunity to include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its business relationships’ contracts. Additionally, it can establish a process to identify risks and impacts related to bribery and corruption. While the company has a mechanism for stakeholders to raise bribery and corruption concerns, it is unclear if this mechanism is accessible to all stakeholders and if complainants have the option to identify themselves or remain anonymous. Furthermore, the company can demonstrate ethical conduct by publishing a policy statement that outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement, emphasizes its non-participation in political contributions, and transparently discloses lobbying expenditures.

Provide and promote decent work
Nisshin Seifun Group has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment to workers’ health and safety by translating its expectation to its business relationships into a policy commitment and providing evidence of monitoring their compliance. Additionally, it could set a time-bound target for ensuring all workers receive a living wage, describes the living wage determination methodology, and discloses strategies to support suppliers in paying a living wage. Furthermore, the company could formalise its statement on gender equality and women’s empowerment into a public policy document. It could also disclose that it has at least 30% women on the highest governing body.

Respect human rights
Nisshin Seifun Group describes a process for identifying its human rights risks; however, it has an opportunity to specify if this covers all its suppliers.