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KnowTheChain - Food and beverage company disclosure

KnowTheChain - a partnership between Humanity United, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Sustainalytics, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Verite - benchmarked companies on their actions to address forced labour in their supply chains.

In 2016, a KnowTheChain published its first set of benchmarks focusing in the information and communications technology, food and beverage, and apparel and footwear sectors.

In 2018, KnowTheChain will publish the second round of the benchmarks.

Company engagement and disclosure

In 2016, KnowTheChain benchmarked 20 companies in the food and beverage sector. Ahead of benchmark publication, we had invited companies to response to a set of engagement questions that correspond to the benchmark methodology.

In 2018, we have benchmarked 38 food and beverage companies. To reduce the reporting burden for companies, ahead of the 2018 benchmarks, we asked companies to respond to 2-3 questions to point us in the direction of relevant disclosure. Further, we provided companies an opportunity to review the initial research findings, and to provide additional disclosure for indicators where disclosure was missing.

The company disclosures are made publicly available below.

Company name	2016 Disclosure	2018 Disclosure	2020 Disclosure
Aeon (Japan)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Ahold Delhaize (Netherlands)	[Not included]	Responded, and provided updated response	Provided additional disclosure and sent link to Human Rights Report
Almarai (Saudi Arabia)	[Not included]	No response	No response
Amazon (United States)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Sent links
Arca Continental (Mexico)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure
Archer Daniels Midland (United States)	No response	Sent link to H2-2017 Human Rights Progress Report	Sent link
Associated British Foods (United Kingdom)	Provided draft slavery and human trafficking statement*	Responded	Sent links to Twinings Ovaltine Supplier Code of Conduct Responsibility Report 2019, pp. 24 and 28 Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2019 Sourced with Care: Progress Report 2018, pp. 8 and 18
Avenue Supermarts (India)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Britannia Industries (India)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
BRF (Brazil)	Provided links to this report, these guidelines, this webpage	No response	[Not included]
Campbell Soup (United States)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure and further information	Provided additional disclosure
Carrefour (France)	[Not included]	Responded	No response
China Mengniu Dairy (China)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Coca-Cola (United States)	Responded*	Responded and provided additional disclosure, and further information	Provided additional disclosure
Coca-Cola European Partners (United Kingdom)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure, and further updates	Provided additional disclosure
Coca-Cola HBC (Switzerland)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Coles Group (Australia)	[Not included]	[Assessed as Wesfarmers including Coles] Responded and provided additional disclosure. Also provided several links: * Ethical Sourcing Supplier Requirements (English and Mandarin) * Supplier Approval and Management Using Sedex policy * Child Labour Remediation supplier requirements * E thical Sourcing Policy As well as documents of Coles: Ethical Sourcing Policy (English and Mandarin), Responsible and Ethical Sourcing section, Brand Charter	Provided additional disclosure and sent links to Coles' new Human Rights page Updated Ethical Sourcing Policy Updated Supplier Requirements Updated Ethical Sourcing Program Guidance Updated Ethical Sourcing Remediation Framework Media release on working with unions to safeguard human rights in the horticulture supply chain
Colruyt Group (Belgium)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Conagra (United States)	Provided link to citizenship report	No response	No response
Costco (United States)	[Not included]	Disclosure regarding UK modern slavery statement	No response
Danone (France)	Responded	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
FamilyMart (Japan)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure and sent link to 2019 Sustainability Report
FEMSA (Mexico)	No response*	No response	No response
Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food (China)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
General Mills (United States)	Provided links to this report, this policy, and this statement	Provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Hershey's (United States)	Responded*	Responded	Sent links
Hormel (United States)	[Not included]	No response	Provided additional disclosure
Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group	[Not included]	No response	No response
JBS (Brazil)	Responded	Sent link	No response
Kellogg (United States)	Provided links to this webpage and this webpage	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Kerry Group (Ireland)	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure and sent links to California Transparency in Supply Chains Act statement and revised Supplier Code of Conduct
Keurig Dr Pepper (United States)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Sent link to updated Modern Slavery Statement 2019
Kraft Heinz (United States)	Submitted this statement*	Pointed to its corporate website and CSR report, and provided additional disclosure	No response
Kroger (United States)	[Not included]	Responded and provided links to its 2016 Sustainability Report, 2017 Sustainability Report, and Statement of Human Rights	Sent links to Kroger's 2019 Environmental, Social & Governance Report (pp. 146-148 and 150) Deforestation Commitment: Raw Material Sourcing
Lamb Weston (United States)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Loblaw Companies (Canada)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Lindt & Sprüngli (Switzerland)	[Not included]	Responded	Provided additional disclosure
McCormick (United States)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Mead Johnson, now Reckitt Benckiser (United States)	Responded	[Not included]	[Not included]
Meiji Holdings (Japan)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure *** and sent links to Meiji America Supplier Code of Conduct Stauffer's Code of Conduct Meiji Group Policy on Human Rights Meiji America California Transparency in Supply Chains Act statement *Stauffer's California Transparency in Supply Chains Act statement
Mondelez International (United States)	Responded*	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Monster Beverage (United States)	No response	Provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Mowi (Norway)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Nestlé (Switzerland)	Responded*	Responded	Provided additional disclosure and links to 2019 Sustainability Report and 2019 progress reports for palm oil and seafood
PepsiCo (United States)	Provided this link*	Provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. (Philippines)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Saputo (Canada)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure
Seven & i Holdings (Japan)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure and an additional document and sent link to *7-Eleven California Transparency in Supply Chains Act Disclosure
Sun Art Retail Group (Hong Kong)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Smucker’s (United States)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure. Also disclosed translations of its * Global Supplier Code (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Chinese) * Responsible Sourcing Practices (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Chinese)	Provided additional disclosure
Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (Japan)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure	No response
Tesco (United Kingdom)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Tyson Foods (United States)	No response	Provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Unilever (United Kingdom)	Responded	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Vietnam Dairy Products (Vietnam)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
Walmart (United States)	[Not included]	Responded and sent link to 2018 Global Responsibility Report Summary**	No response
Want Want China (China)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response
WH Group (Hong Kong)	[Not included]	No response	No response
Wilmar (Singapore)	Responded*	Responded and provided additional disclosure, and further information	Provided additional disclosure and further information
Woolworths (Australia)	[Not included]	Responded and provided additional disclosure	Provided additional disclosure
Yakult (Japan)	[Not included]	[Not included]	Provided additional disclosure
Yonghui Superstores (China)	[Not included]	[Not included]	No response

Human rights impacts (note the following information is not included in the benchmark analysis): In addition to providing companies' responses to the disclosure questions, we also provide for users’ reference a link to the company section on Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s website. These company sections include news and reports about the company’s human rights impacts around the world, covering positive actions and instances of alleged misconduct as well as company responses to incidents (where they provided one). Please click on the company names listed on the left hand side under "Related companies". For further details on our model of change see here.

*** Note the 2020 benchmark includes information published as of February 2020, or through July 2020 where companies provided additional disclosure or links. Some companies have since published relevant information. For example:

Meiji - Supplier Code of Conduct (Aug 2020) and ESG data (Aug 2020)

** Note the 2018 benchmark includes information published as of June 2018, or through August 2018 where companies provided additional disclosure or links. Some companies have since published relevant information. For example:

Walmart - Human Rights policy (Nov 2018)

* Note the 2016 benchmark includes information published as of June 2016. Some companies have since published relevant information. For example:

Associated British Foods - Statement under the UK Mondern Slavery Act (Nov16) and responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing (May17)
Coca-Cola - responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing (May17)
FEMSA - responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing (May17)
Hershey - responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing (May17)
Kraft Heinz - Statement under the UK Modern Slavery Act (Sep16)
Mondelez International - responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing (May17)
Nestlé - Statement under the UK Modern Slavery Act (Nestle UK) (Sep16), responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing and sent Labour Rights in Agriculture Roadmap (May17)
PepsiCo - responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing (May17)
Unilever - Statement under the UK Modern Slavery Act (Jan17)
Wilmar - 2015 Sustainability Report; Action Plan to Address Labour Concerns in North Sumatra (Apr17), responded to questionnaire on addressing forced labor in sugarcane sourcing and published sugar supplier list (May17)

Two companies had made their statement under the UK Modern Slavery Act public during or before the 2016 research period: General Mills (May16) and Kellogg (May16).

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