Associated British Foods : Responsibility Report

Invested in our future

Responsibility Report 2022

		Associated British Foods plc	Responsibility Report 2022
1
Overview	Our world	Our supply chains	Our operations	Our people	Our products

About our Responsibility Report 2022

This report focuses on the most significant environmental and social issues relevant to Associated British Foods plc (ABF)1 and its businesses.

The report also highlights some of the most significant opportunities these issues present, such as enabling our customers to meet their own environmental and social goals.

Sugar cane fields at Illovo Sugar Africa, Nakambala mill, Zambia

The structure of this report reflects our value chain. The chapters focus on our supply chains, our operations, our people and our products.

Each chapter focuses on responses to the environmental and social risks and opportunities identified by our businesses, which when aggregated have the greatest significance for ABF at a Group level.

Our Responsibility Report 2022 has been independently assured by Ernst & Young (EY) against the International Federation of Accountants' International Standard for Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Review of Historical Financial Information - known as

ISAE 3000 (Revised). EY have provided independent limited assurance over the 24 environment and safety key performance indicators (KPIs) for the year ended 31 July 2022. These are highlighted in this update with the symbol .

Further information is available in our ESG insights

1 In this report, references to "Associated British Foods", "ABF", the "Group", "we", "us", and "our" are either to Associated British Foods plc and its subsidiaries and/or those who work for them generally, or where it is not necessary to refer to a particular entity, entities or persons. The use of those generic terms herein is for convenience only, and is in no way indicative of how the Group or any entity within it is structured, managed or controlled.

		Associated British Foods plc	Responsibility Report 2022
							2
	Overview	Our world	Our supply chains	Our operations	Our people	Our products

Contents

01	Overview	36	Our people
	• About our Responsibility Report		• Prioritising safety,
	2022		and wellbeing
	• Chief Executive's introduction		• Championing
	• About us		and inclusion
	• Q&A on ESG		• Engaging and
	• Governance		our people
09	Our world	46	Our products

• Global context
• Our approach to materiality

14 Our supply chains

• Protecting human rights and labour rights
• Delivering social impacts
• Improving the environmental performance of our suppliers' farms and factories

26 Our operations

• Focusing on climate change
• Making finite resources go further

• Providing safe, affordable food
• Tackling plastic
• Enabling others carbon emissions
• Increasing the of clothing

55 Appendices

• EY assurance
• Climate-relateddisclosures (TCFD)
• Find out more
• Glossary

Yeast brewing process operator, in the control room at AB Mauri's plant in Hull, UK

		Associated British Foods plc	Responsibility Report 2022
3
Overview	Our world	Our supply chains	Our operations	Our people	Our products
	Chief Executive's introduction			invested in our future
					See how we are actively

Invested in our future

At ABF, we are invested in our future. We are committed to maximising value for our stakeholders, including our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders, through the business we do. We have a clear sense of our social purpose. We work hard to provide safe, nutritious and affordable food, and to provide good quality, affordable clothing to hundreds of millions of customers worldwide. We strive to be a good neighbour and contribute positively to the communities in which we operate.

Acting responsibly towards people and the planet is not a new concept for us, indeed many of our environmental and social initiatives started out long before the terms 'sustainability' or 'ESG' became mainstream.

Our food and ingredients businesses are highly efficient at maximising the value that can be derived from the crops and raw materials they use. This makes good commercial sense and it is also aligned with best practice environmental principles, prioritising waste prevention and reuse wherever possible. Our retail business has an industry-leading sustainability strategy based upon Primark's well-established Ethical Trade and Environmental Sustainability programme, developed over a decade to ensure that those working in Primark's supply chain are treated properly and that our products are made with respect for the environment.

At ABF, maximising value starts with our belief that the actions we take today will define the world we encounter tomorrow. We understand the value of long-term planning, but we also place great value in taking action and doing the right thing here and now.

The belief that companies do well when they act well is deeply ingrained in all of us, from the Board and the leadership team, across all our businesses and colleagues. Our rigorous commitment to responsible business practices, combined with entrepreneurial flair and targeted capital investments, are how we operate at ABF. In doing the right thing we will achieve our social and environmental aims and manage future uncertainties by focusing on four things: the capability of our people; our collective

agility to adapt quickly to changing circumstances; our willingness to invest in innovative concepts; and sharing best practice across our Group.

Investment in our people is fundamentally important, including their safety, health and wellbeing, with an increasing focus on mental and financial health as well as physical safety. We are agile, which means we are well positioned to tailor programmes to employees' needs and introduce initiatives such as those to support our colleagues facing challenges due to the current cost-of-living crisis. We know the value of diversity, equity and inclusion. We want to build a working culture in which everyone who works with us can thrive, professionally and personally.

Our latest Responsibility Report details the pragmatic, collaborative and increasingly systematic approach our businesses take to address the environmental and social risks and opportunities that are most material, but certainly not unique, to ABF. We increasingly focus on human rights due diligence and social inequality. We respect the vital importance of biodiversity and we work towards eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.

It is my belief that ABF absolutely can reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In fact, I want us to get there much sooner and I think that in light of the pace and breadth of the

emissions reduction programmes we have across our Group today, we have every reason for our confidence.

All these risks are profound and must be addressed, however they are not intractable. Across ABF our businesses are responding to them with vigour and originality; using innovative concepts and best practice, so that we make a difference right now. We are fully invested in our future.

The following case studies show how our businesses are dealing with the impact of extreme weather events linked to climate change.

At ABF, our businesses will continue to look for innovative ways to achieve more, but they also understand the value of persistence, sticking to well-proven methods because big changes often come in small increments. Hard work and patience do pay off. This is as true of the future as of the past, which is why many of our businesses' most significant environmental and social programmes, which can involve substantial capital investment, are set to run over five to ten years. Our Responsibility Report includes a number of such programmes and illustrates our approach across the value chain.

George Weston

Chief Executive

Associated British

Foods plc

"Many of our businesses have been running sustainability-related programmes for decades and have achieved consistent performance improvements."

		Associated British Foods plc	Responsibility Report 2022
							4
	Overview	Our world	Our supply chains	Our operations	Our people	Our products

Building resilience to manage the impacts of extreme weather events

It is unlikely that a single extreme weather event, linked to climate change, would have a substantive impact on ABF as a whole, but we recognise that the cumulative impacts of multiple weather events could affect increasing numbers of our businesses and ultimately constitute a Group-level risk in the long term. Here are two examples from our businesses on how they are responding to their particular challenges.

In Africa

In recent years, our sugar business, Illovo Sugar Africa (Illovo), which has operations across southern and eastern Africa, has taken action to manage the impacts of cyclones and the flooding they cause, as well as the consequences of heatwaves and temperature volatility. The effects of these events have included reductions in crop yields and damage to infrastructure and distribution systems.

One example was the intense rainfall associated with Cyclone Eloise in January 2021, which caused flooding

across several of Illovo's estates at Nakambala in Zambia, Ubombo

in Eswatini and Maragra in Mozambique, and resulted in damage to crops, equipment and infrastructure.

Cyclone Eloise led to Illovo building its capability further to anticipate and manage the increased likelihood of extreme weather events, so it is more resilient to them in future. It is making further investments in risk profiling; knowledge sharing; and flood management infrastructure at

its operations and in neighbouring communities.

In Australia

In Australia, we have been working with a climate of extremes for many years and have adapted to how to live with natural disasters. A good example is our Townsville bakery which is subject to tropical storms each year, and has built systems to manage the safety of people, property and supply. We have in place similar plans to deal with bushfires that occur each summer. The next challenge is to ensure that we continue to evolve our plans and test our thinking for potentially more challenging weather events.

Flooding following Cyclone Eloise illustrates the impact of climate change on our infrastructures, Eswatini

Roads and infrastructure compromised after Cyclone Eloise, Eswatini