Cargill

No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.

Marine ingredients in aquaculture feed and use of alternative ingredients
Cargill Aqua Nutrition discloses detailed information about the use of marine ingredients in its aquaculture feed, and through progress reporting it demonstrates its efforts to reduce the use of marine ingredients. The company partnered with InnovaFeed and uses by-products from its wheat processing mill to feed black soldier fly larvae as an alternative ingredient to fulfil the omega-3 feed requirements. In 2020 this innovation was adapted for commercial use.

Commitment to traceability
As a member of Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS), Cargill has made a commitment to the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST). With this commitment, the company supports the implementation of a standard that will enable interoperability and increased verifiability for traceability systems in the seafood industry.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion measurement area.

Sustainable development strategy
Cargill’s subsidiary Aqua Nutrition has a long-term and time-bound sustainability strategy. It discloses a materiality matrix and demonstrates where in its supply chain its material topics can have an impact. The company has set time-bound targets for sourcing both terrestrial and marine feed ingredients. However, it has an opportunity to set similar targets explicitly related to social responsibility topics.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
Cargill discloses that a member of the executive team is responsible for sustainability group wide. However, no information is provided on whether sustainability is an element of the company’s remuneration policy.

Stakeholder engagement
Cargill’s subsidiary Aqua Nutrition reports several examples of stakeholder engagement with various organisations, such as Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS), the Global Salmon Initiative, Seafood Task Force and third-party standard setting organizations at the global level. Locally, the company also reports on its engagement in Chile, for instance. However, Cargill Aqua Nutrition has an opportunity to explain its process for identifying its stakeholders and demonstrate how the outcomes of its stakeholder engagement and it is integrated into its sustainability strategy.

Engagement in policy advocacy
Cargill’s subsidiary Aqua Nutrition provides examples of advocacy activities through memberships in several industry organisations, such as the Seafood Task Force and the Global Salmon Initiative. As a member of SeaBOS, the company takes part in collective advocacy activities through statements and calls to action towards governments. Examples of these activities are calls for governments to support boat crews and ocean workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Statement on Traceability and Port State Measures to combat IUU fishing. Cargill Aqua Nutrition also advocates for improving the management of the blue whiting fishery in the Atlantic North-East through its involvement in the North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group. The company can improve its reporting on this topic by sharing information about outcomes and impacts of its policy advocacy activities.

Commitment to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
Cargill Aqua Nutrition has set time-bound targets that by 2020 all its marine ingredients must come from MarinTrust certified factories. Currently, it reports that 88% of its marine ingredients are meeting this target. Cargill Aqua Nutrition, however, mentions that the scope of its sustainability report covers 19 of its 40 feed production facilities. While the company states that only these 19 production facilities are dedicated to aquaculture feed production, it has an opportunity to clarify whether its current targets apply to all marine ingredients in its operations. Also, it can disclose the sustainability status of the proportion of marine ingredients that its progress reporting currently does not cover.

Ecosystems impacts of fisheries
Cargill Aqua Nutrition addresses the ecosystem impacts its aquaculture feed production has on fisheries by using certified sources for its marine ingredients. While the company demonstrates good progress by reporting that 88% of its marine ingredients are from MarinTrust certified factories, it has an opportunity to present the proportion of certified sources for all its 40 feed production facilities.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
Cargill Aqua Nutrition has set time-bound targets for soya and palm oil. For soya, the company had commited that by 2020 it will have sourced all its soya products from supply chains that meet the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC) benchmarked certifications. At present, 52% of its soya for aquaculture feed production meets this target. Similarly, Cargill Aqua Nutrition commited to source all its palm oil products from suppliers certified by the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) or an equivalent by 2020. Currently, 38% of its palm oil is certified. The company can improve its reporting by presenting the proportion of certified soya and palm oil for all its 40 feed production facilities.

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear
Through its membership in SeaBOS, Cargill is committed to reducing abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) by supporting the Global Ghost Gear Initiative. The company does source large volumes of wild-caught fish for its aquaculture feed production, but it still has an opportunity to support implementing measures that reduce ALDFG.

Traceability system for seafood products and aquaculture feed ingredients
Cargill Aqua Nutrition states that it has developed Key Data Elements (KDEs) for the traceability of its marine ingredients, in alignment with the GDST standard. The company could improve by explaining what traceability system it has in place, which KDEs are collected and what the mechanisms are to verify the information along the supply chain.

Risk-based approach to IUU fishing
Cargill Aqua Nutrition addresses IUU fishing risks by sourcing certified marine ingredients. However, the company can improve reporting on this topic by sharing how it assesses these risks across its supply chain and publicly disclosing the results of these risk assessments.

Disclosure of the origin of its seafood and marine ingredients
Cargill Aqua Nutrition reports the composition of species for its cold-water and warm-water feeds, as well as the country of origin and the proportion of each species. The company also reports the proportion of its marine ingredients that originates from certified sources. It can further improve the transparency of its portfolio by reporting on the management status of each fishery it sources from.

Forced labour
Cargill commits to prohibiting forced labour in its own operations and supply chain. However, no evidence was found that the company prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents or restricting workers’ freedom of movement.

Living wage
Cargill does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage nor requires its suppliers to do the same. Neither has it set targets to do so in the future.

Working and living conditions on board fishing vessels
In Cargill’s Animal Nutrition and Health sourcing policy, the company sets requirements on health and safety and human rights and labour practices for its suppliers. Although the company does not own fishing vessels, it does not disclose how it verifies decent working and living conditions on board fishing vessels within in its supply chain. The company can improve its performance on this topic by ensuring that working and living conditions on vessels in its supply chain are monitored, disclosing monitoring results and demonstrating how risks are mitigated and improvements are implemented, where needed.

Engagement with and support for local communities
The company demonstrates examples of how it engages with communities in Chile with activities aimed at improving education, environment and economic development. The company could improve its performance by reporting progress of all these activities. Furthermore, it can demonstrate its process for regularly engaging with local communities in its own operations and supply chains and sharing the outcomes of its community engagement.

Cargill commits to respecting human rights and the ILO core labour rights. The company also has a grievance mechanism that is accessible to employees and external stakeholders. Cargill indicates potential issues of non-compliance regarding human rights in its palm oil operations. However, it does not disclose a process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific activities and locations covered by its operations.

Cargill commits to respecting the health and safety of workers both in its own operations and its supply chain, but it does not disclose how it monitors the health and safety performance of its suppliers. Furthermore, Cargill supports gender equality and empowerment by setting a target to achieve at least 50% women in leadership globally by 2030. While the company conducts a living wage assessment for its palm oil plantation operations, it does not disclose group-wide commitments to paying a living wage. No sufficient commitment regarding working hours and disclosures on workforce diversity and collective bargaining were found in the public domain.

Cargill publicly commits to protecting personal data and has a privacy statement on the use of personal data. It also has a policy statement that sets out its lobbying and political engagement approach. However, a statement that it does not make political contributions was not found in the public domain. The company has a publicly available policy statement prohibiting bribery and corruption, but it does not describe how it identifies bribery and corruption risks and impacts. No global tax strategy or disclosure of corporate income tax for each jurisdiction where the company is a resident were found in the public domain.