2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods

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2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
2020
Sustainability
Report
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Contents
About this Report                                         INTRODUCTION                                      BETTER OPERATIONS
                                                          Message from our CEO                        4    Our Emissions                              30
This is Nomad Foods’ fourth                               2020 Sustainability Highlights              5    Our Packaging                              33
annual Sustainability Report,                             Nomad Foods at a Glance                     6    CASE STUDY: Rethinking packaging           35
                                                          Materiality7                                     Employee Health, Safety and Wellbeing      36
covering the calendar year                                Managing Risks                              8    Inclusion and Diversity                    38
from January to December                                                                                    CASE STUDY: Stepping up Focus on Inclusion 39
                                                          BUSINESS FOR GOOD
2020. This report covers all
                                                          Serving the World in a Pandemic            10    SOLID FOUNDATIONS
trading subsidiaries of Nomad                             Eating for the Planet                      11    Governance41
Foods unless specified                                    Promoting Plant-Based Foods                13    Food Safety, Quality and Traceability      42

otherwise.                                                BETTER SOURCING
                                                                                                            Corruption, Bribery and Anti-Competition   43
                                                                                                            Responsible Marketing and Labelling        44
                                                          Our Oceans                                 15
The most recent previous report                           CASE STUDY: Helping Fisheries                     DATA
                                                          to Certification                           17    Data Tables                                46
was published in May 2020.                                Our Fields                                 18    GRI Index                                  49
                                                          CASE STUDY: Preserving and Enhancing Soil
                                                          Health                                   20
This report is influenced by the                          Our Approach to Specific Ingredients       21
Global Reporting Initiative                               Our Animal Welfare Standards               22
(GRI), and includes standards                             Our Supply Chain Ethics                    23

defined by the GRI guidelines.                            BETTER NUTRITION
It meets the requirements of                              Our Nutritious Food                        25
the EU Directive on Non-                                  CASE STUDY: Optimising our Pizza Portfolio  27
                                                          Our Approach to Additives                  28
Financial Reporting.

2 | 2020 Sustainability Report    Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Introduction

3 | 2020 Sustainability Report    Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Message from our CEO
Welcome to Nomad Foods’                                • We significantly reduced carbon emissions per
                                                         ton of finished goods by more than 20% and
fourth Sustainability Report.                            absolute emissions by close to 11%, despite
                                                         dramatically increased production volumes
I am incredibly proud of what our teams have             as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic
achieved during 2020 which has been a chal-            • 97% of the wild captured fish we source for our
lenging year for all of us. Despite lockdowns,           brands iglo, Birds Eye, Findus and La Cocinera is
supply chain interruptions and the many other            now Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified
personal and business impacts of the pandem-           • 77% of our total vegetable and potato volumes
ic, our teams have continued to raise the bar            are grown in line with the Sustainable Agricul-
and shown amazing resilience and dedication              ture Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment
to serving our consumers with the products they          Silver Level
know and love.                                         • At the same time as we have grown our busi-
     While there is still some uncertainty about the     ness, we still have 90% of our sales coming from
long term impact of Covid-19 on the workplace,           Healthier Meal Choices
it is clear that pressure for action on climate and    • 83% of our packaging is now recyclable, up
societal change has heightened. Retailers and            from 73% last year
consumers are increasingly interested in sustain-
able brands, environmental, social, and gov-           In 2020, we also became a signatory to 10x20x30,
ernance (ESG) criteria are being used more for         the global initiative to halve food loss and waste
investment decisions and looking at the food           by 2030, following the commitment we made
sector specifically, it is now well known that the     2019 to set reduction targets for our emissions
way food is consumed and produced is taking its        in line with the Science Based Targets initiative
toll on nature and the planet. As Europe’s lead-       (SBTi) ; a commitment to reduce carbon emis-
ing frozen foods company we are committed to           sions in line with the Paris Agreement.
playing our part in transforming the food system,          In addition, you will see that there are areas
to reduce pressure on resources, including land.       where we need to do more, such as water use
      We also have a huge opportunity to help          and inclusion and diversity, and we are under-
consumers eat sustainably, given our portfolio         taking detailed analysis to ensure the actions we
is made up of high-quality, much-loved brands          are taking deliver positive change.
that millions of consumers choose every day and        Stefan Descheemaeker, CEO
centred around fish and vegetable products that
are affordable and available everywhere.
     You will see in our report that we have made
good progress across our six key targets, as we
strive to bring our purpose of serving the world
with better food to life. For example:

4 | 2020 Sustainability Report                        Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
2020 Sustainability Highlights
Despite a turbulent year for our                   And we’ve continued to deliver action in line
                                                   with our purpose to “serve the world with bet-
suppliers, employees,                              ter food”, through promoting high standards in
customers and consumers, we                        our supply chain and providing more consum-
                                                   ers with convenient plant-based options through
are proud of our sustainability                    our expanded Green Cuisine range.
achievements at both a
corporate and a local level.
We have joined collaborative initiatives to mag-                                                                                     Became the first UK
nify our impact in a number of areas, including
fighting food waste, reducing ocean pollution                                                                                        farm management
and putting disability inclusion on the business
agenda.
                                                                                                                                      group and the first
                        Corporate highlights                                 Local highlights
                                                                                                                                      globally in frozen
                                                                                                                                    food, to be awarded
 €3.2M                    Namibian
                          hake
                          trawl and
                                                                                                                                     the FSA gold level*
                                                                                                                                       for our Bird’s Eye
 Donations made to        longline
 vulnerable groups        fishery
                                                                             Birds Eye signed
                                                                             up to champion
                                                                                                                                         Pea Harvest
     during the           became                        Shared our
     pandemic                                                               disability inclusion
                          MSC-certified            sustainable growth
                                                   strategy at our first
                                                       Investor Day

                                                                                4.59
 Joined the fight
against food waste

  Launched
                                                                                tonnes
                                                       Joined the           Equipment reused
   external                 Available in 12           movement to           or recycled through                                      * FSA refers to The Sustainable Agriculture
 Sustainability             markets across           combat ocean            our sustainable IT                                      Initiative Platform’s Farm Sustainability
Advisory Board                 Europe                   pollution                 project
                                                                                                                                     Assessment. For more details, see page 19

                                                                                                     Pea fields Yorkshire, UK.

5 | 2020 Sustainability Report                    Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Nomad Foods at a Glance
Nomad Foods is Europe’s                               Our Brand Portfolio our sites; all processes that take place within           Fossilfritt Sverige pledge to achieve fossil-free
                                                                             our operating sites; communication with con-           domestic transport by 2030 and the Peas Please
leading frozen food company.                                                 sumers through advertising; product labelling;         Initiative to support everyone in Britain to eat an
Every day, over eight million                                                and our Consumer Care Line. Direct suppliers           extra portion of veg a day.
                                                                             are subject to our policies, standards and prod-          As part of our work to share information and
European households enjoy                                                    uct specifications.                                    gather external insights from stakeholders and
products from our leading                                                       Our influence is limited in areas such as the       shareholders, we held our first investor day in
                                                                             primary production of raw materials; the pro-          November 2020, at which members of our senior
brands, which include Birds                                                  cessing of goods by third party suppliers; and         leadership team presented on a range of topics
Eye, Findus and iglo.                                                        the transportation of goods to and from retailers      related to our business model, our growth strat-
                                                                             and other customers. We also have less direct          egy and our long-term goal of driving share-
We have a varied portfolio, which includes a                                 influence over consumer transportation, prepa-         holder value.
range of fish and seafood, vegetables, potatoes,                             ration, and consumption of our products. Where
plant-based foods, chicken and ready meal                                    we have less direct control, we select suppliers            Markets Where We Operate
products. Our supply chain stretches from the                                who reflect our high standards and agree to
fields, farms and oceans where the raw mate-                                 strict specifications.
rials for our products grow to tables across Eu-                                To extend our impact, we collaborate with
rope. As of January 2021, we operate in 14 major                             other businesses, through industry associations
European markets, with a factory footprint con-                              and with advocacy organisations such as the
sisting of 14 sites across 9 European markets. This                          Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the Sustain-
is overseen by our employee team, led from our                               able Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform),
headquarters in Bedfont, UK.                                                 AIM (the European Brand Association) and the
                                                                             UK Waste and Resources Action Programme
Our Global Supply Chain                                                      (WRAP). In 2020, we also joined the Global Ghost
Nomad Foods is a €2.5 billion business. Our sup-                             Gear Initiative to fight ocean pollution and the
ply chain includes the purchase of raw material,                             10x20x30 coalition to halve global food waste.
components, semi-finished goods and ready-                                      We also participate in networks and pacts at
made products across a number of categories.                                 a national level. For example, in 2020 Birds Eye
Once purchased, materials are transported to                                 in the UK joined the Valuable 500 network, ded-
our manufacturing sites and warehouses be-                                   icated to putting disability inclusion on the glob-
fore being distributed to local markets and sold                             al business agenda. We are also signatories of
through retailers and foodservice providers, even-                           the UK Plastics Pact to address plastic waste; the
tually reaching the end consumer. There were no

                                                                             4800+
major changes to our supply chain in 2020.
   The main areas under our direct influence are
vegetables grown by our contracted farmers;
                                                                                                                                    • Nomad Foods’ offices
the transportation of raw materials between                                                                      employees          • Nomad Foods’ factories

6 | 2020 Sustainability Report                       Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Materiality
In 2019, we conducted a                                                                           Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations       Most material
materiality assessment to

                                                        More important
                                                                                                                             Upholding human rights
explore with internal and
                                                                                                                            Upholding animal wellfare       Sourcing fish & seafood responsibly
external stakeholders whether
any issues had increased or                                                                                                   Reducing food waste           Practising sustainable agriculture

decreased in priority since                                                                                               Reducing energy & emissions

previous years, and to identify

                                                        Importance for stakeholders
any emerging issues.
                                                                                                                            Employee health & safety

Our research included a quantitative survey with                                                                           Using packaging responsibly        Improving our nutritional profile
600 consumers across four European markets in
which we operate, and interviews with internal                                                                               Reducing water & waste
and external stakeholders including NGOs, re-
tailers and suppliers. We used the insights from
this research, the results of our previous stake-
holder engagement processes and our knowl-
edge of the impacts of our business to develop                                                                            Promoting diversity & inclusion
                                                                                         Restricting use of GMOs​                                               Removing artificial additive
our materiality chart.                                                                                                    Sourcing palm oil responsibly
   In 2020, following internal discussions and as-                                       Growing produce locally
                                                                                                                                                               Promoting plant-based diets
sessment, we updated the materiality chart to                                                                                Sourcing soy responsibly
reflect increasing public and retailer interest in
promoting plant-based diets and the impact of
soy.
   The chart is an illustrative representation of the
results of our materiality assessment. The most
material areas are in the darker boxes and are                                            Good labour relations           Employee training & education
covered in more detail in the report.                                                  Providing for alternative diets        Marketing responsibly
   There are also areas, such as upholding food
safety and quality and ensuring zero tolerance
of corruption, bribery and anti-competitive be-
haviour, that are fundamental elements of how
we do business. These are covered in the final                                                                            Impact of Nomad Foods                              More important
section of the report.

7 | 2020 Sustainability Report                                    Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Managing Risks
Climate change, biodiversity                         Across the markets in which we operate, con-         Spinach production Reken, Germany.
                                                     sumer demand for healthy, responsibly pro-
loss and widespread social                           duced products is rising rapidly. In addition,
inequality pose major risks to                       media scrutiny, heightening governmental regu-
                                                     lation and mounting pressure from NGOs bring fi-
our planet, our society and our                      nancial and commercial risks for businesses who
business.                                            fail to act in accordance with high environmen-
                                                     tal and ethical standards.
Failure to mitigate the worst impacts of global         The importance of these risks cannot be over-
warming threatens lives and livelihoods across       stated, and we place these at the heart of our
the world. These impacts include unpredictable       business practices. We work to manage and mit-
or extreme weather conditions and scarcity of        igate risks through a range of measures, which
crucial resources such as water and raw mate-        include implementing clear policies and proce-
rials, as well as social unrest.                     dures across all material sustainability areas, as
   One of the central risks for Nomad Foods is the   detailed throughout this report, and continually
potential impact climate change could have on        assessing risk through our Risk Heat Map. In 2020,
our business, including through ocean heating,       we also established a Business Risk Committee,
ocean acidification and lower yields.                responsible for assessing and monitoring the ma-
   Unsustainable food production contributes         jor risks facing us as a business.
further to these risks. Depletion of fish stocks
due to overfishing and damage to soil health
and biodiversity threaten supply chains across       Proactive risk management
the globe, including our own. In addition, rising
obesity levels pose a global health challenge,
                                                     means we can prepare and
increasing the risk of non-communicable diseas-      assess actions to take in a
es and pressure on health services.                  structured and more informed
                                                     manner.
                                                     Annelie Selander,
                                                     Group Sustainability Director

8 | 2020 Sustainability Report                      Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Business for good

9 | 2020 Sustainability Report    Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
2020 Sustainability Report - Nomad Foods
Serving the World in a Pandemic
During the Covid-19 pandemic,                           tomers during this period, as well as continuing     Food donations during the pandemic, iglo Belgium.
                                                        to offer existing consumers a nutritious and af-
we acted fast to protect                                fordable way to feed their families.
workers, support families and                               As well as delivering our purpose through our
                                                        core corporate activity, during the initial weeks
deliver on our purpose.                                 of the pandemic and the pan-European lock-
                                                        down, we also created a €3 million fund to pro-
Millions of households serve and eat the food we        vide monetary and food donations to local hu-
make every day. In unprecedented and difficult          manitarian and healthcare organisations. A
times, we have an even greater responsibility to-       large proportion of this was directed towards
wards our consumers, suppliers, and employees.          food banks helping those in greatest need dur-
   Our corporate purpose, “Serving the World            ing turbulent times.
with Better Food”, has directed every aspect                Our teams have worked tirelessly during Cov-
of our response to Covid-19. Since the start of         id-19, despite facing ongoing challenges as the
the pandemic, we have continued to provide              impacts of the pandemic continue to be felt
households across Europe with affordable, sus-          in our supply chain. We are persevering in our
tainable and nutritious products.                       stringent hygiene protocols to keep employees
   Keeping our employees safe was our first pri-        safe, whilst taking dedicated steps to protect the
ority – and central to our ability to continue serv-    mental wellbeing of our people. These include
ing customers and consumers. We acted early             resilience training to help managers continue
and decisively to implement new procedures              supporting their teams, and wellbeing materi-
and strict protocols at all of our sites to reduce      als to help colleagues take care of themselves
the risk of the virus spreading. As a result, all our   and each other.
factories have remained open and operational                We know that we will continue to experience
throughout this pandemic, and we have been              difficulties as we transition back to a new nor-
complimented by Public Health England on our            mality, but our beloved products and unique
social distancing measures and our proactive            role in supporting everyday life make us well-po-
approach to ensuring that our colleagues are            sitioned to continue to “serve the world with bet-
safe and well. For more details, see Employee           ter food”.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing.
   At the same time as implementing these strict
new measures, we faced unprecedented de-
mand for our products. Frozen food provides a
convenient option for consumers living under
lockdown restrictions, seeking to reduce their
shopping frequency and choose products that
stay fresh for longer. We’ve attracted new cus-

10 | 2020 Sustainability Report                        Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Eating for the Planet
Sustainable eating is critical to                    If we are to protect the world from the worst ef-
                                                     fects of the climate crisis, ensure long-term food                        SDG2: Helping to achieve adequate nutrition
the future of our planet and our                     security, and promote the widespread adoption                             for all within planetary limits is at the heart of
business.                                            of healthy, balanced diets, we need to transform                          our purpose: serving the world with better
                                                     the way that food is produced and consumed                                food. Due to the nature of our portfolio, we
                                                     at a global level.                                                        have a unique role to play in this area. For
                                                        Our sustainability strategy, Eating for the Plan-                      more information on our activity and progress,
                                                     et, sets out our role in supporting this change in                        see page 25.
                                                            line with the UN Sustainable Development
                                  ER SOURCINGthe planet           Goals (UN SDGs) and our corporate
                              BETT eating for                          purpose. We have the portfolio                          SDG12: Given our position as Europe’s largest
                                                                         to empower consumers to                               frozen food company, we have the ability and
                                    Our oceans                              make the right choices and                         responsibility to champion more sustainable
                                                                                                                               consumption and production patterns, par-
                                     Our fields                                 it is our ambition to make
                                                                                                                               ticularly in relation to packaging and food
                                     r
                                      eating for
                                       ingredients
                                                                   eating for                      eating for
                                                                                  eating for the planet
                                                                                     sustainable, healthy,                     waste. For more information on our activity
                                   Ou the planet                   the planet                     the planet
                                                                                      tasty and accessi-                       and progress in this area, see page 33.
                                                                                       ble for all.
                                                                                           Founded in 2017,
                                                                                         our strategy is built                 SDG14: As a major purchaser of fish and sea-
                                                                                d iti v e s
                                                                                                                               food, this is an area where we can drive signif-
                                      eating                                                         eating
                                                                                         on sourcing, nu-
                                                                                         trition and oper-                     icant change, and together with our partners,
                                                                             s fo o d

                                      for the                                                        for the
                                                                                         ations. It sets out                   make a meaningful contribution to global

                                      planet                                                         planet
                                                                                         our ambitions in                      progress towards the goal. For more informa-
                                                                in fl t o a d
              O ur
 O ur
 BETTE

                                                                                                                               tion on our activity and progress in this area,
              O ur

                                                                                         each area, sup-
                                                                       nce

                                                                                            ION
                                                                o a riti o u

                                                                                         ported by time-                       see page 15.
                   p l a pl

                                                                                         bound commit-
      co
                    p e mu

                                                                    ue
                                                              ur c h

                                                                                        TRIT
       RO

                              et                                                        ments.        These
                                                                   ut

                                                        n
                        n
         m
                        o

                          e                          r                                 commitments        are                  SDG15: Nomad Foods is a leading provider of
                                                 O u pr
                                                                                      NU
           PE

                    ni                                  p O                           designed    to deliver                   vegetables and potatoes across Europe. This
                         ty                         ra
             RA

                                                                                                                               gives us the scale and influence to drive holis-
                                                O u                                 sustained progress in
                                                           ER

             O                                                                   line with the UN SDGs,                        tic, sustainable agriculture practices and help
               TI

                 NS                                                           BE
                                                         TT

                                                                              in particular 2, 12, 14 and                      combat soil erosion and deforestation. For
                                                                           15. Where relevant, we align                        more information on our activity and progress
                                                                        our commitments with specific                          in this area, see page 18.
                                                                     UN SDG targets to catalyse further
                                                                change.

11 | 2020 Sustainability Report                         Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Better Sourcing: We want to be the recognised         Better Operations: We are committed to do bet-      commitments. We have also gone above and
leader in fish and vegetable sourcing. This means     ter whilst minimising our environmental impact.     beyond our commitments in certain areas, most
sourcing our fish and seafood products with care      We continually strive to improve our energy, wa-    notably nutrition and operational emissions re-
and respect for people and the environment,           ter and waste management, reduce operation-         duction.
and ensuring that all our vegetables and pota-        al greenhouse gas emissions and actively ad-          As a recognition of our strong performance, we
toes are grown according to third-party verified      dress the impact of our packaging.                  ranked in the top quartile in the global Dow Jones
sustainable agriculture principles.                                                                       Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2020. We also achieved
                                                      We are now in our fourth year of delivering Eat-    our second consecutive perfect score of 100 for
Better Nutrition: We help families eat a more bal-    ing for the Planet. Thanks to targeted efforts to   Health and Nutrition. The DJSI is a globally rec-
anced diet. This includes improving the nutrition-    embed sustainability across all our markets and     ognised independent benchmark, conducting
al profile of our portfolio, using our influence to   functions, and despite supply chain and logisti-    thorough analysis across a wide range of sustain-
inspire positive choices and implementing strict      cal challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandem-        ability metrics. Overall, we scored 52 in 2020: our
standards on additives and preservatives.             ic, we continued to make progress across all our    highest score yet.

 # 1. We will use 100%
 fish and seafood from
 sustainable fishing and
 responsible farming by
 the end of 2025
                                                       # 3. We will grow the
                                                       healthier meal choices
                                                       in our portfolio every
                                                       year
                                                                                                           # 5. We will reduce our
                                                                                                           greenhouse gas (GHG)
                                                                                                           emissions year after year

                                                                                                           (2019: 614.5 kg CO2e)
                                                                                                                                                                TOP
                                                                                                                                                                QUARTILE
                                                                                                           484.7*
 (2019: 95%)                                           (2019: 90%)
                                                                                                                                                                in Dow Jones

 96 %                                                  90%                                                 kg CO2e
                                                                                                                                                                Sustainability Index

 # 2. 100% of our vege­                                # 4. 100% of our port-                              # 6. 100% of our
 tab­les and potatoes                                  ­folio to be without flavour                        consumer packaging
 will be p
          roduced using                                enhancers, artificial flavo-                       will be recyclable by
 sustainable farming                                    urs and artificial colourants                      the end of 2022
 practices by the end                                   by the end of 2022
 of 2025
                                                       (2019: 95%)                                         (2019: 73%)                                          * Per ton of finished goods

 77%                                                   97%                                                 83%**
                                                                                                                                                                from our own operations.
                                                                                                                                                                ** This figure includes one pro-
                                                                                                                                                                ject which was completed in
                                                                                                                                                                December 2020 but first went
                                                                                                                                                                to production in 2021.

12 | 2020 Sustainability Report                      Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Promoting Plant-Based Foods
Supporting the shift towards a
flexitarian diet is central to our
                                                                                        Available in more
purpose of serving the world                                                            than 25,000 stores
with better food.                                                                       across Europe

The world’s population is predicted to reach al-      ily favourites – with or without meat. The Chick-
most 10 billion by 2050. In order to provide this     en-Free Dippers were voted Product of the Year
growing population with healthy, nutritious food      in the Free-From category of the UK Consumer
whilst remaining within safe environmental lim-       Survey of Product Innovation in early 2021.
its, the world must undergo a substantial shift          We will continue to champion a more flexitari-
towards more plant-based options. A global            an diet, helping consumers across Europe to put
switch to a ‘planetary health diet’ with a high-      plants at the heart of every meal through tasty,
er proportion of plant-based options could also       nutritious food that fits easily into their everyday
prevent approximately 11 million deaths per           lives. We will strive continually to innovate and
year.1                                                improve our products, and have the goal of tri-
   Our pan-European Green Cuisine range is de-        pling our sales from Green Cuisine within the
signed to offer popular meat-free choices for         next two years.

                                                      5X
consumers and empower both meat-eaters and
vegetarians to make culinary choices that sup-
port planetary health. The Green Cuisine range
includes meat-free versions of family favourites,
as well as delicious plant-based food that are
heroes in their own right, such as falafel and veg-
gie fingers. Our Green Cuisine Pea Protein range
has a 5x smaller carbon footprint on average
compared to red meat2 . None of the products          lower carbon
contain soy.                                          footprint vs red meat2
   2020 was a critical year for the expansion
of our Green Cuisine range. It is now the fast-
est-growing frozen plant-based brand in Eu-           1. Summary Report of the EAT-Lancet Commission (2017).
rope, available in all 13 markets where we op-        2. Results are based on a screening Life Cycle Assessment
                                                      (LCA), which is neither ISO 14040/14044 compliant nor critically
erate, and representing €30 million of revenue        reviewed. Primary data are used for the Green Cuisine pro-
in 2020. The launch of our chicken-free range in      duction. Generic data for the supply chain of main ingredi-
                                                      ents, distribution, use and end-of-life treatment and for the
the UK was a major success, and testament to          production of the meat alternatives. The comparison is per
our expertise in developing tasty, nutritious fam-    kilogram consumed product.                                         Green Cuisine Chicken-free Southern Fried Strips.

13 | 2020 Sustainability Report                      Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Better sourcing

14 | 2020 Sustainability Report    Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Our Oceans
Overfishing poses enormous                             shift towards healthier, more sustainable eating.

risks to future fish stocks,                           That’s why we’ve committed to using 100% fish              Supporting fisheries in
                                                       and seafood from sustainable fishing or respon-
ecosystems and societies.                              sible farming by the end of 2025.                          becoming ’MSC-certified’
                                                          Our Fish and Seafood Policy stipulates that we         Where a fishery is not yet certified, Nomad
Over a third of global fish stocks are now fished      only use sources recognised by The Food and               Foods engages with them to determine on
beyond biologically sustainable limits 3 . Further     Agriculture Organisation (FAO) or complying               a case-by-case basis whether the fishery is
damage is being done by careless fishing prac-         with either the FAO Code of Conduct for Re-               on a credible journey to certification with-
tices, including avoidable bycatch of non-target       sponsible Fisheries or the FAO Technical Guide-           in a maximum of five years. If approved by
                                                                                                                                                                     The importance of protect-
species and fishing equipment left in the ocean:       lines for Aquaculture. We do not source illegal,          internal teams, Nomad Foods supports fish-          ing marine life is encapsulat-
a significant contributor to plastic pollution. Sea-   unregulated or unreported (IUU) wild capture              eries with:                                         ed in UN SDG 14: Life Under
food supply chains are also at risk of a range of      fish for any of our markets, nor fish stocks that                                                             Water. Overfishing and the
                                                                                                                 - Advice                                            related issues of illegal,
human rights abuses, including modern slavery.         are depleted or recovering.
                                                                                                                 - Market access                                     unreported and unregulat-
These practices, if unmanaged, threaten the fu-           We’re proud to have been among the first                                                                   ed fishing, are the focus of
                                                                                                                 - Sharing best practice resources
ture of the oceans and the communities who             brands to work with independent certification                                                                 UN SDG target 14.4 which
                                                                                                                 - Roundtable discussions                            aims to restore fish stocks in
rely on them.                                          schemes, and continue to believe that certifi-
                                                                                                                 - Access to Nomad Foods’ network                    the shortest time feasible.
   Sourcing fish sustainably is challenging and        cation can have a long-term positive impact in                                                                As the world’s largest buyer
requires long-term commitment and collabo-             maintaining ocean health. For over 20 years, we                                                               of certified wild caught
                                                                                                                                                                     white fish, we recognise our
ration. Given that fully responsible sourcing is       have worked closely with the Marine Steward-                                                                  responsibility in encourag-
multi-faceted, it can never be comprehensive-          ship Council (MSC): an international non-profit         try and ultimately protect oceans and fish stocks.    ing fisheries to continuously
ly delivered by a single organisation or certifica-    organisation which protects oceans and safe-               In parallel, to reduce the pressure on wild fish   improve their practices to
                                                                                                                                                                     ensure the health of fish
tion scheme. However, to feed a growing world          guards seafood supplies. Sourcing our fish and          stocks, we are increasing the proportion of re-       stocks, vulnerable species
population and support the many communities            seafood from ‘MSC-certified’ sources means              sponsibly farmed fish in our portfolio. Aquacul-      and ocean habitats.
who rely on fishing for food and livelihoods, we       that fisheries must meet strict requirements            ture—the production of fish and seafood in a
must find ways to address the challenges and           around stock management, minimising impact              farmed, managed environment—is a growing
move forward together. Transitioning more fish-        to eco-habitats, bycatch and the use of fishing         industry and although there is a need to care-
eries globally to certified sustainable practices      gear. The MSC works with all types and sizes of         fully manage its environmental impacts, includ-
is essential to mitigate the risk of depleted fish     fishery, and certification is carried out by inde-      ing the use of wild fish stocks to create feed, we
stocks and to protect the wider health of the          pendent expert assessment bodies: a pre-req-            believe that responsible aquaculture has an in-
ocean. As the world’s largest buyer of certified       uisite for all certification schemes. It has been       creasingly important role to play in meeting fu-
wild caught white fish, we are determined to           independently benchmarked for its rigour and            ture demand for protein.
lead the industry in sourcing fish responsibly.        credibility and is the most rigorous form of ac-           We require the farms we source from to work to-
                                                       creditation currently available.                        wards a trusted certification scheme and we work
Our Approach                                              We also actively work with non-certified fisher-     closely with the Aquaculture Stewardship Coun-
Our branded products are purchased by mil-             ies to support them in becoming ‘MSC-certified’.        cil (ASC) to ensure this. The ASC standard defines
lions of consumers across Europe. This puts us         This is essential to increase the future availability   environmental and social criteria that need to        3. WWF: Facts, Effects and
in a strong position to support a generational         of sustainable, certified fish throughout our indus-    be met, to obtain the certification. These include    Overfishing Solutions.

15 | 2020 Sustainability Report                       Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
stipulating that fish farms do not operate in High      We are already the largest branded producer             Fish and seafood     by helping local communities to upload photos
Conservation Value Areas, that all fish feed is fully   of eco-labelled wild-caught fish and seafood            from sustainable     and geo-locations of ghost gear through its Re-
traceable to a responsibly managed source and           globally. As we increase the proportion of cer-         sources:             porter app. In 2020, our internal Sustainability
that farm workers’ rights are respected.                tified fish in our portfolio, we are also able to in-                        Ambassador network volunteered to help ex-
   To make our supply chain more transparent to         crease the number of products that carry eco-                                pand the accessibility of the GGGI Reporter app
consumers, our Fish Provenance Tool, launched           labels. Over the last five years, we have also                               by translating it into seven European languages.
in 2010, allows consumers to identify the specific      doubled the sales volume of products which are
catch areas from which we source fish and sea-          ASC-labelled. In five of our markets, 100% of our                            Future Plans

                                                                                                                >90%

                                                                                                                       95%

                                                                                                                              96%
food products.                                          fish and seafood products were eco-labelled                                  Demand for frozen fish and seafood has risen
                                                        with MSC or ASC by the end of 2019.                                          during the Covid-19 pandemic. To ensure we
Our Progress                                                We are committed to going beyond certifica-                              meet this growing demand and achieve our tar-
In 2020, 96% of our fish and seafood volume was         tion to help prevent and recycle ocean-bound                                 get of sourcing 100% certified fish and seafood
sustainably sourced and held MSC or ASC certifi-        waste. As a first step, in 2020 we became a mem-                             by 2025, we have launched a multi-year project

                                                                                                                20

                                                                                                                       20

                                                                                                                              20
cation. This was due to our dedicated work with         ber of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI),                              to increase the global availability of certified

                                                                                                                  18

                                                                                                                         19

                                                                                                                                20
key fisheries to achieve MSC certification, includ-     which aims to create solutions to the problem                                fish. As part of this project, we will allow an in-

                                                                                                                834
ing a Namibian hake fishery. We are current-            of lost, abandoned and discarded fishing gear.                               crease in fish sourcing from fisheries that have an
ly also supporting a number of Alaska pollock           One focus of the GGGI is to establish a global                               independently verified plan for achieving MSC
fisheries to progress towards MSC certification.        baseline of data on ghost gear around the world                              certification, but do not currently hold certifica-
                                                                                                                                     tion. While this represents a small percentage of
Family favourite with fish fingers, peas and mash.
                                                                                                                                     the total volume of fish we source overall, work-
                                                                                                                                     ing with these “Fishery Improvement Projects” (or
                                                                                                                MSC or ASC eco-
                                                                                                                                     FIPs) enables us to help them accelerate their
                                                                                                                labelled products
                                                                                                                                     path to certification which in the longer term will
                                                                                                                                     lead to an overall increase in the availability of
                                                                                                                                     certified fish worldwide.
                                                                                                                                        In addition, we are working to increase our
                                                                                                                                     volume of aquaculture sourcing by encourag-
                                                                                                                                     ing consumers to incorporate more responsibly
                                                                                                                                     farmed fish and seafood into their meals. Our
                                                                                                                                     aim is to source 95% of our farmed fish and sea-
                                                                                                                                     food from certified sources by the end of 2021.
                                                                                                                                        To continue championing greater consumer
                                                                                                                                     awareness of responsible fish sourcing patterns,
                                                                                                                                     we will re-launch the Fish Provenance Tool, and
                                                                                                                                     re-brand it as “Captain’s Fish Finder”, as well as
                                                                                                                                     expanding it to France and Sweden.

16 | 2020 Sustainability Report                        Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Helping Fisheries to Certification
Restoring fish stocks to biologically sustainable      As recently as 2020, with support from us, the Na-
levels is central to UN SDG 14, Life Below Water,      mibian hake trawl and longline fishery became
and particularly to target 14.4 to regulate illegal,   the first fishery in Namibia and only the second
unreported, and unregulated fishing and restore        in Africa to achieve MSC certification.
fish stocks. Yet today, one-third of the world’s as-      “The Namibian Hake fishery had been on
sessed fisheries remain overfished. 4                  the path towards MSC certification for over ten
    Fisheries and fishing companies certified by       years, and was due to begin MSC assessment
the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) must              in 2016. However, it was facing delays, in part
meet strict sustainability criteria, helping to pro-   due to the complexity of balancing deep-sea
tect ocean life. But to achieve a sustainable fish     and shallow-water hake stocks across fisheries.”
supply chain at a global level, more fisheries            “Nomad Foods worked closely with the fish-
must transition to independently certified sus-        ery throughout the process, liaising with the Na-
tainable sourcing standards.                           mibian Hake Association, the MSC in South Af-
    Oliver Spring, Group Sustainability Manager        rica, as well as with stakeholders in Brussels. We
at Nomad Foods, explains how we work close-            contacted the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine
ly with our suppliers to help them achieve MSC         Resources in Namibia to spur on progress and
certification:                                         emphasise the importance of this landmark for
    “Achieving certification from the MSC is a         the Namibian fishing industry. This collaboration
massive undertaking. We know that attaining a          and togetherness was essential.”
fully traceable supply chain end-to-end can be            “Waiting for the results of the MSC certification
a real challenge. But well-managed fisheries are       was like being in the last minute of the World
critical for safeguarding long-term fish supply, so    Cup Final! Everyone was on tenterhooks. But we
it’s definitely worth the effort.”                     achieved the result we wanted.”
    “As the world’s largest buyer of certified wild
caught white fish, we use our influence to en-         As a result of this collaboration, the Namibian
gage with fisheries and champion MSC certifi-          Hake fishery will add up to 160,000 tonnes of sus-
cation. If selecting new non-certified suppliers,      tainable hake into the sustainable seafood sup-
we require them to provide a credible, transpar-       ply chain5. The fishery is now working closely with          While our first priority is to source ‘MSC-certified’
ent and independently verified plan for achiev-        the South African hake trawl fishery to compare              fish whenever possible, we are also proud of
ing certification within a clear time frame. Then      stock assessments and rebuild fish stocks together.
we work with them on their journey. Over the
                                                                                                                    our work with non-certified fisheries, supporting
years, this approach has led to major success-                                                                      them on their certification journey. This is essential
es, including the MSC certification of one of the                                                                   to increase the future availability of certified
world’s largest whitefish Alaska Pollock fishery
in 2005.”
                                                                                                                    fish throughout our industry.
                                                       4. WWF: Overfishing.                                         Stefan Descheemaeker,
                                                       5. Saving Seafood: Namibian fishery is second in Africa to
                                                       be certified as sustainable (2020).                          CEO Nomad Foods

17 | 2020 Sustainability Report                       Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Our Fields
Sustainable and resilient                              SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment                                                                                     UN SDG 15 underlines the necessity of protecting and restoring
                                                       (FSA) Framework to assess the profile of our sup-                                                                                 natural ecosystems. This includes combatting desertification
agriculture is essential for                           pliers and farmers. The FSA Framework covers
                                                                                                                                                                                         and soil degradation in line with target 15.3 and halting
                                                                                                                                                                                         biodiversity loss as set out in target 15.5. As a major provider
maintaining global ecosystems                          10 fundamental components of sustainable ag-                                                                                      of nutritious vegetables and potatoes across Europe, we
                                                       riculture, including soil management, biodiver-                                                                                   want to lead the way towards a system in which agriculture
– now and in the future.                               sity and labour conditions. Farms or farm man-
                                                                                                                                                                                         is more resilient, productive and sustainable.

                                                       agement groups are awarded bronze, silver or
Food businesses today face major challenges:           gold depending on which threshold of require-
providing nutritious food while protecting natu-       ments are met. Our target is for all of our suppli-
ral resources, ecosystems, biodiversity, land and      ers to achieve a minimum FSA silver verification
soil quality, and the communities and workers          by 2025.
connected to agriculture and farming. Failing to          Our FSA project team is responsible for driving
achieve progress in this space means that farm-        progress towards our target. This is a cross-func-                                                                                            Prog
                                                                                                                                                                         ai n                                 res
ers will be increasingly impacted by the effects       tional team made up of representatives from                                                                e  Ch                                   Fie sive
                                                                                                                                                                lu te                                          ld
of climate change, which in turn may result in         functions including Sustainability, Research and                                                      Va la                           Collab                to Tec
                                                                                                                                                           e to P

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Re
                                                                                                                                                          l                     n s,                 o               Fa h
reduced yields.                                        Development, Data Management, Supplier As-                                                        b d              p  la              inst       r a t          ct
                                                                                                                                                                       ss ves,                   itute io

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ge
                                                                                                                                                            e                                                    n

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   no y
                                                                                                                                                                     e                                  s

                                                                                                                                              a
                                                       surance, Procurement, Agriculture and Market-                                                                       i
                                                                                                                                                                   in rat rmer               o pmen Va wi,

                                                                                                                                          f it
                                                                                                                                                                  s

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     or
                                                                                                                                         Se

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     lo
                                                                                                                                                               bu pe m fa nts
                                                                                                                                                                                                      t         r th

                                                                                                                                       Pro
                                                                                                                                                                                                  tec or H iet

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ne
Our Approach

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       gy
                                                       ing. The team meets once a month to track pro-                                                             o r          e                      h        a
                                                                                                                                                                     te em                              n

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          re dev ng
                                                                                                                                                           int
                                                                                                                                                                                                           ol r

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           al est
                                                                                                                                                        n -
We are committed to sourcing 100% of our vege-         gress against our roadmap and identify priority                                                                               inability Asse

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 rativ
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            se el-
                                                                                                                                                      Lo Co
                                                                                                                                                                                                             o

                                                                                                                                                         Jo
                                                                                                                                                                       re        sta

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              v
                                                                                                                                                      ag g

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              arc
                                                                                                             Soci
tables and potatoes through sustainable farming        areas for action. To implement the roadmap, our                                                                         Su                   s s

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                gy
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 i

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  h
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   m
                                                                                                                                                                                    rm
practices by the end of 2025. This target, and our     Fieldstaff of agricultural experts focus on build-

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      e Agriculture
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    en
                                                                                                                                                                                  Fa
Policy for Sustainable Agriculture, apply to all the   ing long-term, trusted relationships with our di-

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      t

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          t
                                                                                                                 al-econom

                                                                                                                                          welfare, Knowle

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ntal nagemen
                                                                                                                                          r
                                                                                                                  Social Impacts mmu

                                                                                                                                           e
                                                                                                                                                                                            Sustainable

                                                                                                                                             l
vegetables, potatoes, fruit and fresh herbs we         rect suppliers and work with them as part of a

                                                                                                                                               a

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       rga diversit y,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             i c m at t r
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  age -
                                                                                                                                                 t

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       e
                                                                                                                                                 Supplier- als, ra

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Impacts
                                                                                                                                                  F i el d s p e m or f
                                                                                                                                                   i
use (in the form of raw materials, ingredients or      continuous improvement process in line with FSA
                                                                                                                                                                                            Agriculture

                                                                                                                                                     o
                                                                                                                       Fa r m &

                                                                                                                                                       n s
finished goods). Over half of these are sourced        recommendations. In 2020, we introduced our

                                                                                                                                                           h

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                So nt m an
                                                                                                                                                             i

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               a
                                                                                                                                                               p
from farmers with whom we have a direct rela-          “sustainable agriculture model” to our suppliers

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               on a rm M
                                                                                                                                                                 s,Tri e t

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  il o , B io
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           n
                                                                                                                                                                   Fa r W s
                                                                                                                                                                   o p er k
tionship and a long-term contract, and the re-         to help them understand our holistic approach

                                                                                                                                Co

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 m p ut
                                                                                                                                                                      d

                                                                                                                                                                      le,
                                                                                                                                 and nit

                                                                                                                                                                        g

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  me
mainder are sourced from trusted third-party           to sustainability in our vegetable supply chain.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     In
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    e

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    F
                                                                                                                                    ic C

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        E n ted
suppliers. Ingredients covered by topic-specific          Beyond our own supply chain, we also sit on                                                                  e

                                                                                                                                                                           Re
                                                                                                                                                                     er r

                                                                                                                                                                            n

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           vi r
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            a
                                                                                                                                                                              la
sustainability schemes, such as palm oil or soy,       two SAI Platform working groups: “Tools and                                                                                           Co                   s,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          gr
                                                                                                                                         y
                                                                                                                                                                                                n su m

                                                                                                                                                                                 tio
                                                                                                                                                                                                            lai m
                                                                                                                                                           s                                  Prod er c lit y

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       te
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     In

                                                                                                                                           ap
are not covered in this scope. Our Policy cov-         Guidance” and “Assurance”. In 2020, our con-

                                                                                                                                                                                     n
                                                                                                                                                                                                    u ct q u a
ers the economic, environmental and social im-         tribution included assisting the SAI Platform with
                                                                                                                                           l
                                                                                                                                             ita
                                                                                                                                                                                Co                                        t
pacts of our agricultural practices, and stipulates    the development of version three of the FSA                                                                                       n su                    en
                                                                                                                                                                                              m               nm
that all potatoes and vegetables will be grown         Framework, which will be launched in 2021. This                                                                                   Com er & B rand Alig ge
                                                                                                                                                                                               petitive Advanta
using verified sustainable farming methods.            reflects our determination to lead in this area
   We joined the Sustainable Agriculture Initia-       and ensure we drive change within the farm-
tive Platform (SAI Platform) in 2018. We use the       ing industry.

18 | 2020 Sustainability Report                       Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Water risk is increasingly important for compa-       the first UK farm management group and the            My proudest          achieving our ambitions. To make this happen,
nies to assess, especially in agriculture supply      first globally in frozen food, to be awarded the                           we will continue engaging with third-party sup-
chains. We are working towards ensuring that          FSA gold level for our Birds Eye Pea Harvest. In
                                                                                                            moment from          pliers and work with our key suppliers to create
none of our crops are sourced from very scarce        addition, iglo Germany was verified as FSA Gold       2020 was             a roadmap for achieving 100% FSA silver or gold
water areas. In addition, the FSA Framework in-       for all “own grown” spinach, herbs and autumn         achieving gold       verification. We will publish a quarterly newslet-
cludes questions about water management,              vegetables.                                                                ter sharing success stories and setting out clear
where two mandatory questions cover legal                 Biodiversity has been a focus area of ours
                                                                                                            FSA verification     objectives for all suppliers.
compliance and the remaining eight are op-            for many years. In the UK, 70% of our farmers         for our Birds Eye       We will also implement strong governance
tional depending on silver or gold level.             already have unique biodiversity action plans         Pea Harvest in       procedures to help us monitor FSA verification
   Under our FSA gold ambition for all direct         in place, and our goal is to reach 100% by the                             and report publicly on our FSA status. Internally,
growers, all farms will as a minimum have a wa-       end of 2022. These plans consist of tangible ac-
                                                                                                            the UK and iglo      we will also set interim targets to drive ongoing
ter plan to optimise water usage and reduce loss.     tions for farmers to enhance biodiversity on their    Germany site.        improvement, and regularly share our progress
This will cover approximately 50% of our vegeta-      farms, such as delaying hedge cutting until late      It shows the         with specific crops and key suppliers towards our
ble and potato supply. Likewise, many of the FSA      winter to prolong feeding opportunities for farm                           2025 target.
silver or gold benchmarked schemes, including         birds, and introducing floral species to grass mar-
                                                                                                            world that,             Beyond driving FSA verification, we will also
Red Tractor in the UK and Vegaplan in Belgium,        gins to provide a source of nectar for insects. We    even for a           launch a one-year pilot in 2021 across ten sites
have requirements around water usage.                 continued our collaboration with the Depart-          large group of       (with corresponding controls) to investigate the
                                                      ment of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences at Tus-                         practicalities of planting wildflower margins an-
Our Progress                                          cia University focusing on increasing biodiversity
                                                                                                            farmers, gold        nually in our UK pea fields. We will be working
77% of our vegetables and potatoes are now            across farms in Italy.                                FSA verification     with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to measure the di-
FSA silver or gold level. This is the result of on-                                                         is possible.         versity of pollinators and birds by these margins,
going engagement with key suppliers, as well          Future Plans                                          Megan McKerchar,     and use the results to guide our future activity.
as targeted focus on specific crops. In 2020, we      Our primary goal remains achieving 100% FSA           Agriculture
conducted a full assessment of all our suppliers,     silver or gold verification for all our vegetables    Sustainability
mapping all procured volumes back to farms or         and potatoes by 2025. To achieve this requires        Manager
farm groups using supply chain mapping soft-          continuing our targeted focus on specific crops
ware, and asking whether they had FSA verifi-         and regions. In line with the Nomad Foods val-

                                                                                                            77%
cation or an equivalent benchmarked scheme.           ue “Always Striving”, we are also developing a
   Using these results, we identified approximate-    best practice framework in our agricultural sup-
ly 20 key suppliers, based on their production        ply chain, recognising that we can always do
volume and strategic importance, to priori-           better and that gold verification should not be
tise for setting clear FSA implementation plans.      a final destination.                                  FSA silver or gold
Many of these suppliers already had existing             Procured vegetables account for just under         level
benchmarked schemes in place for all or part          half of our vegetable volume. Driving aware-
of their portfolio and we have met regularly with     ness and ensuring deeper understanding of the
these key suppliers to discuss and drive progress     importance of sustainable agriculture, particu-
towards full FSA verification. As a result, we were   larly amongst third-party suppliers, is critical to

19 | 2020 Sustainability Report                      Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Preserving and Enhancing Soil Health
95% of the planet’s food relies on soil. But one-       phere by holding it in their leaf and root mass.”
third of the world’s arable soils are now degrad-          “We planted 1,000 acres of cover crops, both
ed, with 30 football pitches’ worth of soil being       before and after pea production, and assessed
lost every minute due to degradation. 6                 the nutrient and carbon content to measure the       Cover crops are phenomenal
   Some industrial farming practices includ-            impact of these catch crops on the fertility, ni-
ing monocropping and synthetic fertilisers can          trogen content and carbon capture of the soil.”
                                                                                                             engines of carbon capture. They
damage soil health over time. In contrast, re-             “Results from the pilot showed that planting      could be critical to helping us
generative agriculture contributes to healthy           cover crops after pea production has the poten-      achieve our zero carbon
soil with improved carbon sequestration, great-         tial, with the appropriate time and conditions, to
er water retention and less need for pesticides         significantly benefit soil health and carbon cap-
                                                                                                             ambitions as a business.
and synthetic fertilisers. This is central to com-      ture. Data from samples taken from the post-pea      James Hopwood,
batting desertification and restoring degraded          cover crops showed that these crops accumu-          UK Agriculture Manager
land and soil in line with UN SDG 15.3.                 lated an average of 136kg of carbon dioxide
   In 2020 our UK Agriculture Manager James             equivalent per hectare per day, as well as storing
Hopwood led an ambitious pilot in the Humber            valuable nutrients such as nitrogen and potassi-
region of East England, to improve soil health          um. This could be critical to helping us achieve
and capture carbon through cover crops.                 our zero carbon ambitions as a business.”
   “Soil is absolutely critical for feeding a growing
population. And maintaining and rejuvenating            Close relationships with growers and partners,
soils is also fundamental for our business. At No-      the agility to learn and adapt, and Nomad
mad Foods, we’ve been growing Birds Eye peas in         Foods’ size and geographical spread are all crit-
the UK for 75 years. This long heritage is based on     ical ingredients for the success of this project –
our strong relationships with the farmers, as well as   and its future growth.
our longstanding sustainability credentials.”              “We grow our pea crops across 10,500 hec-
   “All the peas we grow in the UK fall within 40       tares of land. Understanding how cover crops
miles of Hull: a very small radius. In 2020, we part-   can be incorporated into cultural rotations is
nered with Yorkshire Water, Future Food Solutions       really important. As our in-house agriculture
and 40 of our farmers in this area to measure the       teams work continuously with our farmers to ap-
impact of cover crops on the health of the soil.”       ply the same data-driven approach across their
                                                        farmed area, our influence could in time extend
Cover crops, James explains, are known to have          beyond 250,000 hectares. That’s why projects
a host of benefits for soil health:                     like this are so essential.”
  “Cover crops store nutrients, including nitro-
gen, reducing the need for fertiliser and prevent-
ing nitrates from contaminating nearby water
supplies. They increase the levels of organic mat-
ter in soils, and sequester carbon from the atmos-      6. Soil Association: Save Our Soil.

20 | 2020 Sustainability Report                        Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Our Approach to Specific Ingredients
Forests help to stabilise the                           sible. Where this is not possible, we compensate                                    Future Plans
                                                        through a credit scheme.                                                            In 2021, we are determined to increase the pro-
climate and are vital for                                  In many of our recipes, we have replaced                                         portion of responsibly sourced soy in our portfo-
biodiversity, so we must monitor                        palm oil with healthier alternative oils or re-                                     lio. To help achieve this goal, we will conduct a
                                                        moved it altogether. Where we do use palm                                           deep-dive into the results of our chicken suppli-
ingredients that pose a                                 oil, it’s because it provides the optimal phys-                                     er assessment process to identify which chang-
deforestation risk.                                     ical properties needed for our products. Our                                 1      es will have the biggest impact in the shortest
                                                        new dedicated Palm Oil Policy states that we                                        time. Based on this analysis, we will create a soy
Soy is the second largest agricultural driver of        will only purchase palm oil that has Roundta-                                       roadmap for moving towards 100% responsibly
deforestation worldwide7. It poses significant en-      ble for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Segregated                 RSPO-1106262         certified soy, focusing on our chicken supply
vironmental risks unless proper safeguards are in       certification, meaning it can be traced back to          Check our progress at      chain. This will include supplier engagement
place. Soy is present in many food products as          RSPO-certified mills and plantations. We do not          www.rspo.org/members/455   support and detailed governance processes.
soybean oil, and soybean meal is widely used            use the Book & Claim model, whereby an or-                                          In line with our Soy Policy, we will also continue
in animal feed.                                         ganisation purchases RSPO credits to support                                        to buy credits for all uncertified soy in our sup-
   The deforestation of native forests for palm oil     the production of certified sustainable palm oil         RSPO segregated            ply chain.
production is associated with loss of biodiversity      but does not use physically certified palm oil.          palm oil                      Achieving 100% RSPO-certified Segregated
and significant carbon emissions.                                                                                                           palm oil is a priority for 2021.
   In order to limit our impact and risks as a busi-    Our Progress
ness, protect forests and conserve biodiversity,        The vast majority of our soy usage is indirect, with
we must use deforestation-free soy and sustain-         animal feed representing approximately 98% of
able palm oil or palm oil alternatives.                 our footprint. Soy for poultry feed accounts for

                                                                                                                 88%

                                                                                                                        88%

                                                                                                                               99%
                                                        roughly half of our soy footprint, so working with our
Our Approach                                            chicken suppliers to promote responsibly sourced
Our total soy footprint is largely derived from         soy is a major priority. To provide external exper-
feed for animal-based ingredients used in our           tise on governing and controlling soy certification
products. Launched in 2020, our Soy Policy sets         within our supply chain, in 2020 we conducted an

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                                                                                                                                 20
out our belief that all soy should be responsibly       internal training session with an external consult-
sourced, and our commitment towards using               ant. We also conducted a full assessment of all our

                                                                                                                 12%
100% responsibly sourced soy across our supply          chicken suppliers and used the results to purchase
chain whether it be for indirect or direct use. We      credits for the uncertified soy in our supply chain.
commit to verifying that the soy in our supply          By the end of 2020, 12% of our soy was deforesta-
chain is deforestation free. This means it is neither   tion free, in line with our Soy Policy.
from legally nor illegally deforested land, and is         In 2020, we successfully transitioned the vast
sourced from relevant schemes, wherever pos-            majority of our palm oil to RSPO-certified Seg-          deforestation-free
                                                        regated. 99% of the palm oil we buy is now               soy
                                                        RSPO-certified Segregated, with the remaining
7. WWF: The story of soy.                               1% to be completed by the end of Q2 2021.

21 | 2020 Sustainability Report                        Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
Our Animal Welfare Standards
We work with global suppliers                         chicken from our supply chain and are working              3                  Future Plans
                                                      to provide more enriched environments for an-                                 Following our supplier assessment process, we
and stakeholders to ensure the                        imals, limit transportation time and reduce an-       2   Purchase            will conduct a deep-dive into the results to bet-

animals from which we source                          tibiotic usage. We are signatories of the Better          volume of           ter understand where further improvement is
                                                      Chicken Commitment: a set of criteria for broiler          animal             needed. Our new cross-functional Chicken
our meat are raised responsibly.                      chickens going significantly beyond legal min-             protein            Working Group will be responsible for develop-
                                                      imums, developed by 25 animal welfare and                             1       ing a clear action roadmap to improve chicken
Animal welfare is an area of concern for us and       animal rights organisations from across Europe.                               welfare and identifying key performance indi-
with key stakeholders, including consumers who        As part of our commitment, we have created                                    cators to assess our progress. This will enable us
                                                                                                          1. 74% fish and seafood
are increasingly interested in knowing where their    a cross-functional Chicken Working Group and                                  to work with suppliers to address these issues.
                                                                                                          2. 17% poultry
food comes from and how it is produced. Major         work actively with our suppliers to continue to                                  We will extend our supplier audit process to in-
                                                                                                          3. 10% red meat
risks to animal welfare include poor living con-      improve the welfare of the chickens we use, with                              clude welfare audits with ten of our key chicken
ditions and prophylactic use of antibiotics on        a goal to meet the requirements of the commit-                                suppliers. These will include detailed virtual site
healthy groups may also have subsequent risk          ment by 2026 across our entire portfolio.                                     assessments and a review of relevant certifica-

                                                                                                          92%
to human health.                                         Eggs represent less than 1% of our portfolio,                              tions, processes and procedures. This will give us
                                                      but where we do use eggs or products derived                                  a more robust and detailed understanding of
Our Approach                                          from eggs, our policy stipulates they are sourced                             the current situation and areas for improvement.
Our portfolio consists mainly of fish, seafood,       from barn-reared animals as a minimum.                                           We will also intensify internal communication
vegetables and vegetarian foods. Besides fish,                                                            cage-free egg             to further increase knowledge and understand-
our other main source of animal proteins is poul-     Our Progress                                        supply chain              ing of animal welfare throughout the business.
try. We support safe and responsible sourcing,        Over the past year, we have continued to drive
which includes traceability and animal welfare,       progress towards our target for 100% of our eggs
as well as environmental and ethical concerns.        to originate from cage-free sources. We experi-
We are committed to going beyond regulato-            enced some delays partly due to the Covid-19
ry standards when sourcing poultry and eggs.          pandemic which means 92% of our supply is
   In addition to EU laws, Our Policy on Ani-         cage-free with plans in place to complete the
mal Product Sourcing covers requirements for          transition to 100% by mid-2021, as we remain
humane slaughtering. It also specified the re-        committed to remove cage-reared eggs across
sponsible use of antibiotics to prevent suffering     our portfolio.
and that prophylactic use of antibiotics is not          In 2020, we conducted a full welfare assess-
allowed. In addition, we set further specific re-     ment of all our chicken suppliers. This covered
quirements for beef, eggs and honey products.         a range of topics, including stunning methods,
   Our Policy places particular focus on chicken      antibiotic use, environmental enrichment and
sourcing as it is the second largest source of pro-   stocking density. The results confirmed that in
tein in our portfolio, including requirements for     addition to being fully cage-free, 100% of our
improved conditions that are now being imple-         chickens are stunned prior to slaughter: an im-
mented. We have fully eliminated cage-reared          portant step in improving their welfare.

22 | 2020 Sustainability Report                      Introduction | Business for good | Better sourcing | Better nutrition | Better operations | Solid foundations | Data
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