NESTLÉ HAS topped Oxfam’s “Behind the Brands” scorecard for the second year running. The most recent scorecard was unveiled, with Nestlé being given the highest overall score of 64%, up from 61% in September 2013.
Oxfam launched “Behind the Brands” in 2013 to assess the real impact of the world’s 10 largest food and drink companies on countries where they source raw materials. The scorecard looks at companies’ policies on seven criteria: transparency, farmers, women, agricultural workers, access to land, water and climate change.
Nestlé led the way on climate change scoring eight out of 10 and is the first company to receive a “good” mark in this category as it asks suppliers to reduce emissions in farming. It also scored highly on water usage, workers and transparency.
Fiona Kendrick, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé UK & Ireland said, “We are pleased our ranking in this survey highlights our commitment to responsible sourcing and food security. We recognise that more effort is needed, and that a range of stakeholders must work together to achieve success.”
“We will continue to support the efforts of Oxfam and other NGOs in making progress toward a sustainable food system, and we believe that a collaborative effort by civil society, government and business is required to bring this about.”
The food and drink giant also stated that they will act on areas the report identified as needing further improvement including:
- Working with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) to monitor their cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire – a report will be published later in 2014.
- Continuing to further improve the livelihood of small farmers through their Rural Development Framework.
Unilever came in a close second scoring 63% scoring 8 for farmers and 7 for workers and climate, however, General Mills, owner of Old El Paso and Cheerios came last with a low score of 21%.