Cargill Aqua Nutrition

Disclosure of salmon feed ingredients and environmental footprint

Cargill Aqua Nutrition is notably transparent in regard to the origins of its salmon feed ingredients. The company discloses the species, geographic location and Global Standard for Responsible Supply (IFFO RS) certification of all terrestrial ingredients used within its its salmon feed production. Moreover, in 2017, the company stated that it achieved its goal of having all 700 raw material suppliers commit to its supplier code of conduct. It also discloses significant information on its environmental footprint, providing detailed quantitative data on an annual basis, covering key metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and waste.

Implementation of human and labour rights

Cargill Aqua Nutrition demonstrates a commitment to respect and uphold human and labour rights in its operations, as shown though its human rights policy and code of conduct. However, the company does not provide evidence of a process in place to identify risks, track responses and enable the remediation of any adverse human rights impacts resulting from its operations. While the company indicates that it has a way to identify and manage potential risks in its supply chain through regular monitoring and auditing processes, the company does not disclose any details regarding its approaches.

Traceability of aquaculture feed ingredients

While Cargill Aqua Nutrition provides detailed information about its salmon feed ingredients, it does not disclose information about the feed for warm water species. Full transparency of the sources of its entire feed ingredients portfolio is an important opportunity for the company to demonstrate responsible sourcing practices. Currently, the countries of origin and sources are unknown for 43 percent of the ingredients purchased, although the company states that a project has been launched to map sourcing origins. Overall, it could improve the traceability of both its marine and terrestrial ingredients beyond those used in salmon feed.

Sustainability strategy

Cargill Aqua Nutrition has a fairly robust sustainability policy and strategy which includes in-depth quantitative and qualitative reporting on a number of key environmental metrics, as well as some information about social factors. Although the company sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions, it could improve its accountability to stakeholders by implementing and disclosing forward-looking and time-bound targets across another important metrics such as plastic use, food loss and waste, and freshwater use, to go alongside its existing detailed reporting.

Stakeholder engagement

Cargill Aqua Nutrition’s website provides detailed information about the company’s stakeholder engagement across internal, primary and secondary parties defined at both global and local levels. It also discloses what mechanisms are used to engage each group of stakeholders and how key material issues – namely soy sourcing, fish meal and oil sourcing, and ethoxyquin use – have been integrated into its sustainability strategy. However, the company does not share how it measures and reports on the impact of the resulting changes.