US Foods

Lobbying
US Foods discloses some of its membership in industry groups. However, it has an opportunity to further show leadership by disclosing a full list for all geographies where it operates.

GHG emissions
The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company is committed to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Act ethically
The company discloses income tax payments for all its tax jurisdictions and has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption. Additionally, it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. To address any concerns or complaints related to bribery and corruption, the company has established a grievance mechanism for stakeholders.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement that emphasizes its commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of workers. Additionally, the company expects all of its business relationships to adhere to this policy and demonstrate their commitment to worker health and safety. The company also provides information on how it monitors the health and safety performance of its business relationships.

Moreover, the company discloses the percentage of its total direct operations workforce that is covered by collective bargaining agreements. It also discloses the percentage of women in each employee category within its total direct operations workforce. Furthermore, the company provides transparency by disclosing the percentage of its total direct operations workforce in each employee category based on race or ethnicity.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing to respect human rights. It also indicates that it has a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted by the company.

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 materiality assessment.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company has an opportunity to disclose its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics and impacts. Also, it discloses some sustainability objectives/targets and reports consistently against some targets including climate, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain and report consistently against all its targets. Furthermore, it could link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. Lastly, 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
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
The company should set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions as well as report progress against all its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. 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
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 does not disclose relevant information related to pollution in its operations or supply chains.

Water
The company does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations and reports progress against the target. The company has an opportunity to report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company has an opportunity to engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company has an opportunity to disclose quantitative evidence of reductions in water withdrawal across its own operations. The company does not regularly report on water pollution. The company does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose its processes to identify and recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights or 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 the opportunity to outline its process for identifying bribery and corruption risks and impacts within specific locations or activities, particularly related to its own operations. It could consider establishing a formal policy that articulates its approach to lobbying and political engagement.

While the company currently requires approval from the General Counsel for political contributions, it could enhance transparency by disclosing whether such contributions are made only under exceptional circumstances and specifying the criteria governing these decisions. In the spirit of openness, the company should disclose its expenditures related to lobbying activities, providing greater insight into its engagement with political processes.

Moreover, the company could reinforce its commitment to ethical lobbying practices by disclosing that it mandates third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work

The company currently pays its employees minimum wage, but it could enhance its commitment by setting a time-bound target to pay a living wage. It also has an opportunity to explain how it determines the living wage for the regions where it operates. Furthermore, the company could reinforce its ethical stance by requiring its suppliers to pay a living wage and disclosing the measures it takes to support them in achieving this.

In the pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment, the company can make a public commitment and set clear, time-bound targets. Additionally, it has the opportunity to disclose that it ensures at least 30% representation of women on its highest governing body. The company could also disclose the ratio of basic salary and remuneration between women and men across its direct operations workforce in various employee categories.

Respect human rights
The company could strengthen its commitment to human rights by issuing a formal policy statement that explicitly commits to respecting the human rights declared fundamental by the ILO. While the company currently discloses expectations for its suppliers regarding these rights, it has an opportunity to elevate this to a formal commitment within a dedicated policy document.

Additionally, the company should outline its process for identifying human rights risks and impacts within specific locations or activities, encompassing both its own operations and supply chain. This should also include detailing how it assesses and identifies what it considers its significant human rights issues.

Moreover, the company could demonstrate its dedication to human rights by disclosing the results of its human rights risk assessment. Lastly, the company could also reveal the existence of a global system aimed at addressing, preventing, or mitigating its significant human rights issues.