Sustainability at Maple Leaf Foods
Commitments to sustainability run deep in our business and culture. The world is facing daunting food challenges, and we play a role in meeting those challenges. With a dedicated team and leading consumer brands, we have the size and reach to balance the goodness of nutritious food with advancements in animal care, health and safety, food security and long-term environmental sustainability.
Overview
I strongly believe we can advance ‘shared value’ by focusing our business strategies on addressing critical societal needs, which also creates meaningful business opportunities.
Our society faces urgent needs, and the food sector is both part of the problem and the solution. Simply put, we need to serve the world better. We embrace this challenge and believe there are significant opportunities for food companies prepared to lead and change. This is consistent with who we are, the bold commitments we have made, and the changes underway across Maple Leaf.
We are setting a high bar for ourselves, which will require even more concerted action on our part. To lead in food safety, quality, nutrition and great food. To advance food security for all. To humanely care for animals. To reduce our environmental footprint. To produce food sustainably. We have a bold vision to be the most sustainable protein company on earth, supported by the very best and inspired people.
Our Sustainable Meat Principles, described in this Report, are a clear expression of how we will advance sustainable meat production and responsible consumption. Becoming a sustainable protein company is a quest we have been on for several years, and while there is much work to be done, we have accomplished meaningful progress.
We know food can be good. Do good. Taste good. And feed more goodness into the lives of those we serve. This is the challenge and the opportunity we have set for ourselves.
Sincerely,
Michael H. McCain
President and CEO
About Sustainability reporting at Maple Leaf Foods
Report scope
Our Sustainability reporting covers the calendar year from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 (unless otherwise noted). Summary reports from previous years are available here.
This report follows the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines as a reference and reflects the most current data and information we have about our business. We are reporting “in accordance” with the Core option of the G4 Guidelines, and have chosen not to externally assure any of our standard disclosure items at this time.
To learn more about our GRI performance, please refer to our GRI index.
Information integrity
Maple Leaf Foods’ management is responsible for the preparation and integrity of the information reported. Sources for statistical information referenced that are not related directly to Maple Leaf Foods are either noted or available upon request. If you see a reference about currency, please remember that all financials are reported in Canadian dollars. We believe this information accurately represents our sustainability initiatives and performance results for the 2016 reporting year (unless otherwise noted).
Feedback
This website is the main vehicle for reporting our Sustainability initiatives and performance. We welcome all feedback on our initiatives and progress. To submit feedback, or to ask a question, please contact us at sustainability@mapleleaf.com.
Creating shared value
At Maple Leaf Foods, we are working toward more sustainable food production and a more sustainable protein industry. We have to do things smarter, better and more responsibly.
We believe the best way to drive substantive change is by creating shared value – delivering value for our Company through addressing the significant environmental and social challenges that we face as a society.
Becoming a sustainable, value-added protein company will result in initiatives in these three areas:
Product development
Providing more products and services that address social problems, such as reducing or eliminating antibiotic use in animal production, advancing animal welfare and increasing the nutritional value of our products.
Eliminating waste
Using resources more efficiently and lowering costs, by reducing our energy consumption, waste, and water usage.
Community involvement
Building capacity in our communities by supporting innovative approaches, learning and collective impact to advance sustainable food security. We achieve this through the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security.
Our established sustainability framework and strategy has defined our four areas of focus: Better Food, Better Care, Better Communities, and Better Planet.
At Maple Leaf Foods, we are embedding sustainability into all aspects of our business.
Materiality, report boundary and stakeholder inclusiveness
Materiality
Our materiality analysis captures priorities and their relative importance to our stakeholders for the period reported. We recognize that priorities may shift from year to year based on factors such as changes in stakeholder opinion and market conditions.
A comprehensive list of topics is identified based on a review of competitive benchmark reports, consultation with employees, website traffic to the sustainability report, customer interviews, results of ongoing internal sustainability initiatives, and discussions with key internal functional leaders who are in contact with our stakeholders throughout the reporting year. The boundaries for each relevant topic are also defined based on similar sources of information.
Each topic is assessed according to the perceived importance of the topic to key stakeholders and their importance to Maple Leaf Foods.
Based on this assessment, related GRI G4 aspects and indicators are identified for reporting.
Report boundary
Entities over which Maple Leaf Foods has operational control – our processing and manufacturing facilities; distribution facilities and offices (both leased and owned buildings); and feed mill operations – comprise our 2016 reporting boundary. We have reported on performance indicators (i.e., GRI indicators) for these entities as applicable. Due to infrastructure and data limitations, we have only included data from a representative number of Company-owned farms at this time. We have also not included emissions that are generated by animals raised by either ourselves or our contract growers, or impacts associated with growing the feed for these animals for this reporting year.
For entities over which Maple Leaf Foods has significant influence, including our contract hog and poultry growers and key suppliers and co-manufacturers, we have disclosed our management approach. We have not reported on performance indicators (unless otherwise indicated) for these entities as they are independent businesses.
For additional information, please see our value chain, and our Environmental Disclosure of Management Approach in our GRI Index.
Better Food
Our goals and performance
| 2016 Priorities | Status | Our Performance | 2017+ Priorities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance nutrition across our product portfolio | |||
| Complete the nutrition audit across our branded product SKUs and develop nutrition and health goals and an implementation plan. |  |
We completed our nutrition audit and have developed new nutrition and health goals with a comprehensive implementation plan. |
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| Continue to reduce or eliminate antibiotic use in animal production. | |
Maple Leaf is the largest producer of “raised without antibiotics” (“RWA”) pork in North America and the largest in Canadian poultry. | |
| All new Maple Leaf retail products launched will meet Health Canada’s 2016 voluntary guidelines for sodium. |  |
We launched 31 new Maple Leaf retail products that met the 2016 voluntary guidelines. Five new products narrowly exceeded the guideline and are being retested. |
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| Simplify Schneiders® ingredient and nutrition labels to make them easier to read. | |
We phased in our Schneiders® packaging launch with easier-to-read ingredient and nutrition labels over the balance of 2016, and will continue for the next 12 months. | |
| Increase consumer awareness about protein and health through social media and online communications. | |
We targeted communications to drive consumers to our new Nutrition and Health page on mapleleaf.com. | |
| Be a food safety leader | |||
| All of our raw material, ingredient and packaging suppliers will be food safety certified to Global Food Safety Initiative (“GFSI”) standards by the end of 2017. |  |
85% of all our direct suppliers and 100% of our co-manufacturers have achieved GFSI certification. |
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| By the end of 2017, 100% of our internal food safety audits will be unannounced – a best practice in food safety. | |
We achieved 100% unannounced FSQA Internal Audit implementation a year ahead of our goal. | |
| Implement Laboratory Information Management System (“LIMS”) at all laboratory locations by the end of 2018 to enhance data control and speed of reporting. | |
We completed LIMS implementation at our Central Lab. Plant activation on LIMS is in progress and on schedule. |
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Achieved
Partially Achieved
On Track
 Deferred
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Our Sustainable Meat Principles
Food is life. The food on our tables strengthens our bodies, our spirits, and our bonds with each other. Healthful, soulful food, then, should be a universal good and something we all can have. But our food system has drifted from its roots – to nourish well-being, to farm sustainably, to strive for social good, to connect deeply with our consumers. We need to serve the world better.
At Maple Leaf, we are uniquely positioned to chart a new direction. To lead in food safety, quality, nutrition and taste. To treat our animals with care. To reduce our environmental footprint and advance food security for all. We’re raising every standard, to be proud of what we bring to the table. We care deeply, because we know food can be good. Do good. Taste good. And feed more goodness into the lives of those we serve.
We share a conviction that Maple Leaf can raise everyone to better living, to a better life, by raising the good in food. To be the most sustainable protein company on earth!
Sustainability requires a broad perspective, not a narrow one. Sustainable meat must be produced with respect, within environmental limits, and consumed in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet. We have spent time thinking carefully and having an open dialogue with experts and thought leaders about how we define sustainable meat production and the actions it requires of us.
We embrace these principles, recognizing that sustainability is aspirational and evolving. We will measure ourselves against progress, not perfection. These principles will define our future.
Sustainable Meat…
- is NUTRITIOUS, HEALTHY and SAFE.
- is ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE and eaten in MODERATION, in BALANCE with other nutrients, consistent with nutritional guidelines.
- is produced adhering to ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS that measurably REDUCE IMPACTS across the lifecycle, LIMITING greenhouse gas EMISSIONS and IMPACTS on WATER quality and quantity, avoiding loss of biodiversity and ELIMINATING WASTE.
- comes from animals that are RAISED WITH CARE, with MINIMAL use of ANTIBIOTICS, and to standards that RESPECT the Five Freedoms of ANIMAL WELFARE.
- is produced through a RESILIENT, FAIR and EFFICIENT food system that makes OPTIMAL USE of LAND and NATURAL RESOURCES.
- is produced by a company that is RESPONSIVE to the needs of society and transparently demonstrates our ACCOUNTABILITY to SOCIAL and ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Our journey toward advancing nutrition and health
Consumers are increasingly looking for healthier prepared meats products made with simpler, natural ingredients.
To meet this growing demand, we launched Maple Leaf Natural Selections® and Schneiders® Country Naturals® in 2010. Since then, we have introduced more than 100 new products under both lines, made with simpler, natural ingredients and premium cuts of meat.
Reducing sodium
Canadians consume about 3,400 mg of sodium each day, which is more than double the amount we need.
Reducing or removing sodium from our prepared meats products is a priority, although it is inherently challenging given the important role of salt in food safety. It involves careful product reformulation, including salt, spices and other ingredients, to ensure that taste, food safety and quality are not compromised.
Almost 100% of our fresh pork and poultry products are low in sodium and well below the voluntary Health Canada guidelines, which are designed to help Canadians achieve an average daily sodium intake of 2,300 mg.
61% of our prepared meats products currently meet updated Health Canada sodium guidelines, including a range of low-sodium options that meet specific dietary needs. This is up from 56% in 2015, but we know we must do even better.
In 2016, 31 new protein products we launched met these 2016 voluntary guidelines.
Based on the results of the nutrition audit we completed in 2015/2016, we have developed a sodium reduction strategy that includes all our branded products. We will continue to report on our progress on sodium reduction in our annual sustainability reporting.
Nutrition education
Knowing the right amount of which foods to eat each day and understanding how to read food labels are important parts of ensuring a healthy lifestyle. To help Canadians make informed food choices, we are focusing on three priorities:
Easier-to-read labels
Simplifying and increasing the readability of packaging helps consumers make informed food choices. Maple Leaf® labels are now easier to read, simpler and have a consistent style across all product lines. Consumers are able to compare nutritional information between Maple Leaf products more quickly and easily.
In 2015 we began improvement for our Schneiders® labels, which we are phasing in over 2016/2017 as part of our Schneiders brand refresh, which includes a new logo and packaging design.
Focus on the facts
We partnered with Health Canada, Retail Council of Canada, Food and Consumer Products of Canada, Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers and several leading food and beverage companies to launch the Focus on the Facts nutrition labelling education initiative. The goal is to help Canadians understand and use the Nutrition Facts table on packaged foods, with a focus on “Serving Size” and “Percent Daily Value”.
Better nutrition information at your fingertips
Under the direction of an independent dietitian, the nutritional information on our Maple Leaf brand website provides better, more engaging content to help people access information and plan their diets based on their nutritional needs. The website includes a Nutrition and Health silo, which contains four main sections: Protein and Your Health, What We’re Doing, Just the Facts and Making Good Food Choices. These sections include information on diet and protein, menu-planning options with suggested protein serving sizes, and facts about the nutritional properties of fresh and prepared meats such as fat and trans-fats, sodium and nitrites.
Laboratory Information Management System (“LIMS”)
Maple Leaf launched a major project, LIMS, to help us continue to improve the nutritional properties of our products. Through a technology-based system, Maple Leaf is creating a central database of all of our prepared meat products based on the nutritional values that appear on products’ back-panel labels. This system will give more of our food quality experts real-time access to all of our products’ nutritional properties, allowing us to find more opportunities for improvement, such as reducing sodium and trans-fat.
Our global food safety standards
We adhere to the Global Food Safety Initiative (“GFSI”) benchmarked standards across Maple Leaf. All of our facilities are audited annually by an internal food safety audit function and a third-party auditor, following the British Retail Consortium (“BRC”) Global Standard for Food Safety, which is recognized by the GFSI. All of our fresh and prepared meats facilities adhere to these standards.
We monitor the effectiveness of our efforts through aggressive testing of our products and manufacturing environment. In 2016, we conducted more than 200,000 tests to detect bacteria, including pathogens in our food processing facilities.
We regularly swab, test and sanitize all of our meat production areas, including our manufacturing equipment, floors, walls and all surface areas, for the presence of listeria.
All companies that produce meat products for Maple Leaf must also commit in writing to our safety and quality standards. Currently, we have almost 60 co-manufacturers for our products, all of which are certified to GFSI-recognized standards.
In 2015, we committed that all our raw material suppliers will be required to meet GFSI requirements by the end of 2017, a leading best practice. We are confident we will meet this requirement before year end.
In addition to our active participation with GFSI globally and locally on the GFSI Technical Working Groups, the GFSI North American Local Group advisory board and the BRC advisory board, we have active leadership in other preeminent food safety organizations. We have been a Gold Sustaining Member of the International Association of Food Protection (the leading global food safety professional organization) for the past six years as well as a Sustaining Partner of the American Meat Science Association, which has a mission to improve food safety through scientific advancements.
Better Care
In 2007, Maple Leaf was one of the first scale companies in North America to commit to transition sows from confining gestation crates to open housing. Currently, we have transitioned 33,000 sows through a world class system that eliminates the conventional practice of confining sows during their pregnancy.
Maple Leaf’s animal care commitment
There are important environmental, nutritional and ethical implications of meat production that we must manage responsibly as part of our commitment to being a sustainable company. As the largest value-added meat protein company in Canada, we must be a leader in animal care. To achieve this, animal welfare must be an integral part of our culture and business. We will commit the necessary organizational focus and resources to achieve this.
Maple Leaf Foods is a significantly vertically integrated company that owns hog production, hatching egg production, hatcheries and pork and poultry processing plants. We have strong relationships with farmers and other service providers, and we will seek to advance continuous improvements across our supply chain. We believe in the important linkages between animal care, workplace safety, food safety and quality, and environmental sustainability. They all have a vital role in providing consumers with high-quality, nourishing food that is produced sustainably and ethically.
Our responsibility for animal care goes well beyond our own operations to advocate and share knowledge that elevates practices and regulations across the industry. We will actively engage with consumers, customers, animal care interest groups and other stakeholders, so that change can be based on sound science, what is best for the animal, and what society expects of us. Through our actions and communications, we must earn public confidence that the products we make come from animals that have been treated empathetically and humanely. Maple Leaf Foods is committed to enhancing our animal wellness practices in a manner that advances the Five Freedoms, the most widely accepted global standard for responsible animal care.
The Five Freedoms
- Freedom from hunger or thirst by providing ready access to fresh water and a diet that maintains good health and vigour
- Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area
- Freedom from pain, injury or disease through prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment
- Freedom to express normal behaviours by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind
- Freedom from fear and distress by providing conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering
Maple Leaf Foods will support these global standards through ongoing critical self and third-party evaluations and place strong emphasis on continuous improvements in culture, accountability, advancement, and communications. Download our annual report to learn more about our plan and initiatives to address these four critical areas.
Our goals and performance
| 2016 Priorities | Status | Our Performance | 2017+ Priorities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Be a leader in animal care | |||
| Enhance our training through delivering a web-based and classroom training program across all operations that manage live animals. | |
We delivered an enhanced classroom training module across the majority of our production and processing sites and will complete in early 2017. |
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| Engage an external expert to conduct a third-party review of our operations against our goals and commitments. | |
In 2016, we focused on executing other initiatives within our animal care strategy. Independent audits were conducted of all our live animal production and processing operations. |
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| Enhance our internal and external reporting. | |
Communicated regularly with animal rights groups to discuss issues, priorities and best practices. We engaged with the Business Benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare to review our external reporting and provide recommendations for improvement. |
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| Establish an Animal Care Council composed of external experts. | |
We consult with a number of external animal welfare experts on an ongoing basis. Our internal Animal Care Council will re-evaluate the formation of a more formal process in 2018. | |
| Continue to convert barns and develop a path to accelerate the conversion of sows to open housing. | |
In 2016 we completed our eighth barn conversion and commenced our ninth. When we made our original sow housing commitment in 2007 we had 33,000 sows under our management. By the end of 2017, approximately 33,000 sows will be transitioned to open housing |
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| Launch remote video auditing (“RVA”) at three plants and complete preparatory work at three more. | |
RVA was established at three Maple Leaf facilities (a hatchery, poultry and pork processing plants). Preparatory work was commenced at two more facilities. |
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| Utilize detailed RVA reports to advance training and operating practices. | |
RVA footage and reports were used to train employees and were incorporated into operating decisions and procedures. | |
| Pilot non-surgical castration in boars. | |
Pilot completed. | |
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Achieved
Partially Achieved
On Track
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Raised without antibiotics
Our society is becoming increasingly concerned about the use of antibiotics in animal production, with alternative drug choices for the treatment of many bacterial infections becoming more limited, more expensive or non-existent. Maple Leaf is committed to minimizing or eliminating the use of antibiotics wherever possible, while maintaining high standards of animal care.
Should any animal herd or flock that is in our “raised without antibiotics” (“RWA”) program become sick, all treatment options are considered in consultation with a veterinarian, including administering an antibiotic. If an antibiotic is administered, the treated animal, herd or flock is removed from the program. We are actively implementing operating protocols that reduce higher mortality rates in animals raised without antibiotics, which is one of our animal care priorities.
Our commitment to open housing for sows
The vast majority of hogs in Canada are raised in open pens, but industry practice has been to confine sows (breeding pigs) in gestation crates. In 2007, Maple Leaf was the first major company in Canada to commit to converting sows from gestation crates to open housing. When this commitment was made, Maple Leaf had 33,000 sows under our management.
We worked closely with the University of Manitoba and other industry participants to assess current open housing methods and define adaptations needed to support Canadian hog production. We began significant conversion activities in 2013 with two barns, and transitioned 1,250 sows to open housing. By the end of 2015 we had transitioned a total of 14,500 sows to open housing. By the end of 2017, Maple Leaf will have transitioned approximately 33,000 sows to our open housing system, where they are free to roam, feed and socialize.
Since 2007 when we made our original commitment, Maple Leaf acquired an additional 33,000 sows. We have now developed an accelerated plan that will result in all Maple Leaf sows in our open housing system by the end of 2021.
It takes a great deal of skill and attention to transition animals from a confined environment to open housing in a way that minimizes the natural aggression and competition for food that often results. A significant amount of research, investment and experience has enabled Maple Leaf to support conversion of sows from confined to open housing in a way that optimizes animal care.
Better Communities
| 2016 Priorities | Status | Our Performance | 2017+ Priorities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Be a global leader in workplace safety | |||
| Reduce our Total Recordable Incidence Rate (“TRIR”) to 0.90. | |
Our full year 2016 TRIR was 0.78. Our benchmarking indicates this performance represents best in class performance across North America, and globally. |
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| Achieve 100% completion of annual safety and health accident reduction plans (“SHARP”) by all plants. | |
We achieved 99.5% completion of annual SHARP by all plants. Some minor capital requests deferred to 2017 will bring plans to 100% completion. |
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| Achieve 100% completion of annual safety and health accident reduction plans (“SHARP”) by all plants. | |
We successfully rolled out training to over 83% of our plant-based people. Turnover impacted completion of training by 100% of staff. |
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| Engage and empower our people | |||
| Execute our action plans following 2015 people engagement survey results and prepare for our 2017 survey. | |
We executed many aspects of our functional action plans, including preparing and launching our 2017 People Engagement Survey. |
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| Launch year one of our Diversity & Inclusion (“D&I”) strategy. | |
We formed a Maple Leaf D&I Council, launched a Women’s and LGBT Resource Group, increased mentoring for women, and raised organizational awareness of issues and opportunities related to advancing D&I. We launched a diversity self-disclosure survey to help inform future programming. |
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| Be a destination for top talent | |||
| Continue the development and delivery of our talent development programs. | |
We continued our rollout of a redesigned leadership program to senior leaders and extended our talent review process to the manager level. |
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| Achieve 95% retention rate of top talent. | |
Our talent retention rate was 93%. | |
| Achieve internal fill rate of 70% for new/vacant positions. | |
Our internal fill rate was 65%. | |
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Partially Achieved
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We strive for zero occupational injuries in the workplace, a goal driven by a commitment to employee safety. Through Our Safety Promise and continuous improvement in our safety protocols, we realized an 87.5% improvement in our Total Recordable Injury Rate (“TRIR”) since our 2012 baseline reporting year.
87.5% improvement in our TRIR since our 2012 baseline.
A safe workplace
To advance our workplace safety program and goals, our Vice President, Health, Safety, Security & Environment, reports to the Chief Food Safety and sustainability Officer. They work closely with the operations leadership across our facilities, and report directly to the Safety & Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors three times a year.
Maple Leaf employs a Senior Occupational Health and Safety (“OHS”) Leadership Team that provides leadership across the company. This team is supported by an OHS designate at each work-site and representatives from the Joint OHS Committees who represent all Maple Leaf employees. These formal joint management-employee committees monitor and advise on OHS programs, identify potential hazards and recommend controls.
Our OHS Strategy
The key elements of Maple Leaf’s OHS strategy are:
- Improved OHS communication
- Proactive activities that drive OHS performance
- OHS roles and responsibilities that embrace accountability through all layers of the organization
- OHS strategy implementation, including robust training
- OHS integration with Maple Leaf Foods’ prestigious “Safety Promise Award”
Ongoing skills development and training are essential to continuing to reinforce the importance of workplace safety and procedures to keep people safe. Our supervisors receive training related to recognizing, assessing and controlling hazards, roles and responsibilities of supervisors, forklift safety, chemical safety and other related topics.
Zero Hero Safety Club recognition program
The Maple Leaf “Zero Hero Safety Club” is an internal campaign to drive and support the OHS program in order to realize the aspirational achievement of “zero occupational injuries” as stated in our OHS Policy and Safety Promise. Sites become members of the Zero Hero Safety Club when they achieve zero occupational injuries for the calendar year.
Diversity and inclusion
Achieving a diverse and inclusive workplace is essential to creating a thriving culture where all people feel equally respected, deliver their best, provide a diversity of perspectives, and contribute to our collective success. This needs to be advanced through a formalized approach with clear objectives, communications and actions.
Our plans and progress
A cross-functional team of Maple Leaf people developed a comprehensive D&I plan in 2015 and began implementing it in 2016.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Principles:
- Actively build a workforce as diverse as the nation we are proud to serve;
- Enable top performance by removing barriers so talented people can exert their energy on doing great work, without concern for our differences;
- Learn from each other’s unique experiences and perspectives, in a culture of openness and inclusion;
- Create food that meets the diverse needs of the world we live in.
Highlights of our 2016 activities and initiatives include:
- Established a D&I Council, which meets quarterly
- Established the Maple Leaf Women’s Impact Network (“WIN”) and Pride & Allies Employee Resource Groups
- Launched the WIN Mentoring Program for Women
- Developed and implemented a voluntary Self-Identification Survey
- Completed a Pride at Work Index
- Celebrated International Women’s Day, Pride Week, and Women’s History Month
- Recognized International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia
- Partnered with Pride at Work, Catalyst and Women’s Foodservice Forum
- Conducted Unconscious Bias Training with all Human Resources Managers, Directors, and Vice Presidents
- Embedded self-identification, gender metrics and succession plan into our new employee portal
- Provided “Taking the Stage” Training for 15 female Directors and Managers
- Measured and reported on gender representation internally and externally through the Global Reporting Initiative
Our communities
Valuing our communities
We launched the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security in late 2016, with a goal to work collaboratively to reduce food insecurity in Canada by 50% by 2030 by raising awareness, advocating for public policy, sharing learnings, and supporting innovative organizations that build community food security.
Our goals and performance
Our communities
| 2016 Priorities | Status | Our Performance | 2017+ Priorities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work collaboratively with stakeholders to reduce food insecurity in canada and globally (we are seeking to raise the profile of this pressing social issue); advocate for critical policies and invest in programs required to make sustainable improvements | |||
| Donate 1% of pre-tax profits and $1.5M in food donations annually. |
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Our financial contributions were below target due to the timing of the launch of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security in December 2016. We made more than $1.8 million in healthy food donations in 2016. |
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| Launch a comprehensive community involvement strategy that includes funding partnerships with organizations that take innovative approaches to advancing community food security. | |
We launched the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security (“the Centre”) on December 6, 2016. The Centre is a registered non-profit organization with a board of directors, including three expert independent directors. An application to seek charitable status is underway. The Centre’s inaugural funding supports four strategic projects (FoodShare, Greater Vancouver Food Bank, McQuesten Urban Farm, Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collaborative). |
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Raise awareness and advocate for policies that advance sustainable food security. Launch campaigns, including Feed It Forward, that engage the public in recognizing leaders in food security and contribute to high impact programs. |
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Our CEO, Michael McCain, gave the keynote address at Canadian Club, focusing on the theme of food security and launching the Centre. The Centre’s launch was supported by a high profile social media campaign focused on raising attention about the 4M Canadians who are food insecure. Consumer Activation campaign launched; to date, 15.2 million people have been reached via social and earned media. We produced two videos for the Centre – Consumer Awareness and Centre Overview. |
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| Work with UNICEF Canada and other organizations to support the UN Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating hunger. | |
We contributed $50,000 to UNICEF in 2016 to support emergency relief efforts globally and as a member of the 25th Team of Women supporting six projects aimed at supporting maternal and child health. | |
| Make community involvement a cornerstone of our culture and deliver meaningful social benefits | |||
| Highly engage our people in community involvement and increase volunteerism. | |
We integrated employee engagement into the Centre’s launch with a special announcement webcast and a 10-day Holiday Campaign with daily Feed Opportunity challenges. |
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| Continue to fund our Volunteering to Make a Difference program to recognize employee volunteerism. | |
Our efforts on volunteerism focused on engaging our people around the launch of the Centre. | |
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People are food secure when they have stable access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food. Food insecurity ranges from worrying about running out of food, to compromising on or reducing food purchases, to going hungry and missing meals because of lack of food and money for food.
Approximately 800 million people around the world are undernourished, almost one-fifth of the world’s population. Globally, some progress has been made during the past decade, with the number of people food insecure decreasing by more than 150 million.
Given these advances, it is particularly troublesome that in Canada, a country of considerable wealth and abundant farmland, over four million people suffer from food insecurity.
According to the 2012 PROOF Report on Household Food Insecurity in Canada:
- Four million Canadians (one in eight households) experience some level of food insecurity, affecting one in every six children.
- 62.2% of children in Nunavut (eastern Arctic) live in food insecure households, the highest level in Canada.
- Aboriginal and black households have a rate of food insecurity that is 2.5 times higher than that of other Canadians.
- Food insecurity is a serious public health problem as physical and mental health is closely linked to household food security.
Unlike global advances, levels of food security in Canada over the past decade have not improved and have worsened in some provinces.
feedopportunity.com
In December 2016 Maple Leaf announced a long-term commitment to advance sustainable food security through the launch of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security (www.feedopportunity.com). The Centre has three areas of focus: advocacy, innovation and learning. The Centre and Maple Leaf will support, engage and advocate for important policies that advance sustainable food security. The Innovation Fund will invest in innovative food security initiatives based on dignity, empowerment and skill building that can potentially be scaled to increase their impact. The Centre will share learning from its work and support networks, collaboration and research in the food security sector that build further understanding of the issues and approaches, and enable knowledge transfer.
Our Principles
- We will support food-based initiatives that promote dignity and build individual and community capacity to overcome food insecurity.
- Together, we will feed opportunity, helping reduce social isolation and empowering people and communities to overcome barriers and advocate for themselves.
- We will support partnerships that go beyond emergency food aid to achieve sustainable solutions to food insecurity.
- We will support innovation, learning from what doesn’t work as well as what does.
- We will actively support volunteerism and connect people and expertise with its programs.
- We will build partnerships with governments, academia, non-profit organizations and the private sector to increase collective impact.
- We will seek to advance collective knowledge and impact, measuring social return on investment and sharing the learnings with others.
Our goals
Make a meaningful social impact through advancing sustainable food security locally and globally.
Deeply engage our people by providing volunteering and giving opportunities.
Establish community involvement as an integral part of our culture, identity and business.
To learn more about the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security, please visit www.feedopportunity.com and you can click here for information on funding opportunities.
Supporting food security – locally and globally
The Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security (“the Centre”) collaborates with other organizations and individuals to advance food security. Go to Feed Opportunity to learn more about our partners and programs we are supporting.
Better Planet
Our BIG, BOLD goals!
Our bold intensity (per metric tonne of production) goals are driven by the passion of our people to reduce our impact on the environment and contribute to the sustainable growth of our business.
Since the beginning of 2015, we have reduced our environmental footprint by:
Equivalent to the emissions from 7,655 homes’ energy use for one year
Equivalent to the average amount of water the City of Toronto consumes in one day
Equivalent to emissions from 17,863 cars driven for one year
People across the planet eat about 308 million tonnes of meat every year. By 2050, this number is expected to grow to 450 million tonnes. Livestock is the world’s largest user of land resources, with pasture and land dedicated to the production of feed representing almost 80% of total agricultural land. It also uses 1/3 of the world’s fresh water and produces more than 18% of our world’s CO2 emissions.
At Maple Leaf, we are committed to significantly reducing our environmental impact and advocating for change across the industry. We have established an aggressive goal to cut our environmental footprint in half by 2025 (20% by 2020), requiring significant reductions in our climate change impact, waste and water usage.
50% less water.
50% less waste.
One of the greatest challenges for the agriculture industry is to meet the increasing global demand for food while dramatically decreasing the environmental footprint of food production. Feeding the world accounts for approximately 25% to 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions, of which meat and dairy production represents as much as 18%.
Research has identified that pigs and poultry production accounts for less than 10% of total livestock greenhouse gas emissions*, while providing more than three times as much meat as cattle. Pork and poultry also require up to five times less feed to produce a kilogram of protein than a cow, a sheep or a goat.
*Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAO”) 2013; Tackling Climate Change through Livestock – A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities.
Our goals and performance
| 2016 Priorities | Status | Our Performance | 2017+ Priorities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% environmental footprint reduction by 2025 (per tonne of production) | |||
| Perform energy, water and waste audits at our remaining 13 facilities, including representative pig/poultry barns, and implement environmental sustainability action plans at each site. | |
In 2016, we completed 21 energy audits which included representative pig/poultry barns, feed mills and our Eastern Distribution Centre. Environmental sustainability action plans have been established at all of our audited facilities. |
|
| Once all audits are complete, develop a comprehensive road map to deliver on our 50% by 2025 goals. | |
Our Environmental Sustainability Roadmap is complete and we have developed an internal dashboard for reporting on all our major energy, water and waste initiatives. Part of our ongoing work is to investigate potential environmental and social impacts looking at the broader Maple Leaf product life cycle. |
|
| Increase our use of intermodal transport so that it accounts for 25% of our cross-country resupply loads in 2016. | |
We increased our use of intermodal transport for our cross-country resupply by 55.3%. Since 2014, we have reduced truck kilometres travelled in our prepared meats business by over 1.3 million kilometres. |
|
| Investigate and pilot one or more energy and water reduction technologies in 2017. | |
We investigated and piloted LED lighting to support a national lighting retrofit program, which is being launched in 2017. We investigated solar and thermal heat recovery opportunities for a number of our facilities. We are currently identifying rainwater harvesting and water reuse opportunities. We will continue to examine the feasibility of innovative energy, water and waste reduction technologies and pilot them where appropriate. |
|
| Identify and implement alternative programs to further reduce/eliminate sending organic waste to landfill. | |
We successfully diverted over 1,900 tonnes of organic waste that previously went to landfill to a bio-digester that produces electricity and organic compost. We are piloting two composting opportunities to divert wastewater treatment sludge from landfill. |
|
| *Our Eliminate Waste targets are intensity based. | |||
|
Achieved
Partially Achieved
On Track
Deferred
|
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Since the beginning of 2015, we have reduced our environmental footprint intensity (per 1,000 kg product) by:
Our 2016 performance can be attributed to the consumption reduction and efficiencies gained from the implementation of our facility environmental sustainability action plans identified in our 2015/2016 utility audits; a decrease in production volume in more energy intensive business groups; emissions reductions from reduced corporate air and car travel; and the warmer-than-normal winter temperatures across Canada.
Our journey towards a better planet
Environmental footprint performance summary
A detailed summary of our energy, water and waste usage, as well as our greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions for 2016, can be found in our Environmental Footprint Performance Summary represented in the table below:
| Consumption1 | Intensity7 | 50% x 2025 Footprint intensity reduction | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 50% x | Intensity | % | Units |
|
Total Energy |
843,692 |
957,408 |
1,087,742 |
1.33 |
1.54 |
1.84 |
0.92 |
0.51 |
27.6 |
MWh/1,000 kg |
|
Direct Energy – Gas |
50,173,148 |
54,735,423 |
63,507,147 |
79.35 |
88.28 |
107.62 |
|
28.27 |
|
m3/1,000 kg |
|
Indirect Energy – Electricity |
314,028,756 |
379,582,412 |
417,315,697 |
496.64 |
612.23 |
707.18 |
|
210.54 |
|
kWh/1,000 kg |
|
Water |
6,191,512 |
6,465,265 |
7,300,792 |
9.79 |
10.43 |
12.37 |
6.19 |
2.58 |
20.9 |
m3/1,000 kg |
|
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions – CO2e |
212,476 |
235,856 |
297,040 |
0.34 |
0.38 |
0.50 |
0.25 |
0.17 |
33.2 |
tonnes/1,000 kg |
|
Landfill Diversion Rate (%)6 |
91.5 |
91 |
– |
29.21 |
31.89 |
– |
15.95 |
2.68 |
8.40 |
kg/1,000 kg |
- During the preparation of our 2016 Environmental Footprint Performance Summary, a review of internal controls found data discrepancies with respect to the total production weights that were used in our footprint intensity calculations. This led to under-reporting of our overall footprint intensity reductions in our 2015 Environmental Footprint Performance Summary. In addition, we have now included Scope 1 and 3 emissions related to company air travel, truck/rail transportation and our corporate car fleet. Therefore, for this year’s summary, we have restated our environmental footprint performance back to our baseline year (2014), and our internal data controls have been enhanced.
- Our performance is reported consistent with our report boundary. In 2016 we have reported on entities over which Maple Leaf has operational control – our processing and manufacturing facilities; distribution facilities and offices (both leased and owned buildings); farms and feed mill operations (unless otherwise indicated). Due to infrastructure limitations, we have only included data from a representative number of Company-owned farms for this reporting year. We have also not included emissions that are generated by animals raised by either ourselves or our contract growers, or impacts associated with growing the feed for these animals.
- Consumption: Electricity, natural gas, water and GHG emissions: Energy and water consumption and GHG emissions reflect either actual usage/emissions or have been estimated to account for year-end consumption. Due to data limitations, consumption does not include Scope 1 or 2 energy or emissions from third parties or co-manufacturers, or emissions related to refrigerants, unless otherwise noted.
- Direct energy: Direct energy represents the consumption of natural gas and is recorded on an as-billed basis for the calendar year.
- Indirect energy: Indirect energy represents the consumption of purchased electricity and is recorded on an as-billed basis for the calendar year.
- Water: Water consumption is recorded on an as-billed basis for the calendar year.
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: GHG emissions are measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). GHG emissions related to total energy were calculated using the most recent provincial emission factors available from the Environment Canada National Inventory Report 1990–2013. GHG emissions related to transportation were calculated using the World Resources Institute (2015) GHG Protocol tool for mobile combustion – Version 2.6. Scope 1 mobile sources include our corporate car fleet (2016 and 2015 only) and Maple Leaf owned trucks in our poultry operation. Scope 3 mobile sources include air travel for corporate employees that utilized our corporate travel booking agency, third-party truck haulers and rail (intermodal). Emissions related to employees that booked their own air travel are not included for this reporting year.
- Landfill Diversion Rate (%): Represents the amount of waste diverted from our operations away from landfill in %. Waste Intensity: Represents the amount of waste disposed at landfill (kg) per 1,000 kg of production. Landfill Diversion Rate and Intensity: Established by a consolidation of the results of representative third-party non-hazardous solid waste audits and measured performance of our landfill diversion initiatives. 2015 is our baseline year for waste diversion.
- Intensity: Represents the individual performance measure per 1,000 kg of production (finished product). To avoid double counting, finished product does not include product volumes sold between Maple Leaf business groups.
Comprehensive utility audits
In 2016, we completed our comprehensive and independent utility audits. These included electricity, gas and water audits at 21 remaining Maple Leaf facilities. Our auditing program has improved the quality of our environmental data and enhanced our understanding of our performance baselines, cost savings and footprint reduction opportunities.
Through our audit process, we developed a critical mass of over 500 audit findings that were prioritized using an effort–impact matrix. The key determinants used in this exercise included implementation of capital, timing and human resource requirements concerning effort. Savings generated, number of utilities impacted and greenhouse gas reduction were the criteria used to score impact. The chart below provides a breakdown of the types of findings that were prioritized as part of the 2015/2016 audits:
Based on our effort impact analysis, an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan was developed for each plant, identifying what initiatives should be undertaken to generate reductions in the above priority areas. An action plan tracker to measure how each plant is progressing in meeting reduction targets was also put in place.
Our utility auditing and action plan development process has identified many common energy, water and waste reduction opportunities that we have classified as a priority due to their high return on investment, and positive impact on reducing our environmental footprint. These include, but are not limited to: LED lighting retrofits, heat recovery projects, water reuse opportunities, and organics diversion from landfill.
In 2016 we investigated and piloted LED lighting and developed a national lighting retrofit program that we have begun executing. We have also investigated solar photovoltaic systems, thermal heat recovery on our ammonia systems, geo-thermal heating and cooling, battery storage, rainwater harvesting and other water reuse opportunities at our plants.
We will continue to examine the feasibility of innovative energy, water and waste reduction technologies and pilot them where appropriate.
Reducing waste
Solid waste audits
To calculate our landfill diversion rate we conduct solid waste audits at our facilities and measure the performance of our landfill diversion initiatives.
Our solid waste audits weigh solid waste components that are generated, recovered, recycled and disposed of at each facility. We conduct these audits annually at the majority of our facilities through our established waste management vendors. Depending on the year, we may need to rely on audits at representative facilities. We combine our audit results with data measured from individual waste diversion initiatives at each site to establish our overall landfill diversion rate.
Our top three categories that provide opportunities to further improve our waste diversion rate: organics, plastics and paper. Similar to our utility audit review, we conducted an effort impact analysis of the opportunities to assess execution and prioritization. We assessed impact according to the findings’ contribution to the waste reduction stream, as well as savings. The effort analysis was based on the availability of municipal infrastructure, capital investment, timing and human resource requirements. The chart below provides a percentage breakdown of the types of waste that we are dealing with:
Our biggest opportunity continues to be the diversion of sludge from our Brandon wastewater facility, which will significantly improve our Company’s overall landfill diversion rate.
Reducing food waste
It is estimated that the equivalent of 30% to 40% of food produced in Canada is lost along the value chain, with much of it finding its way to landfill or compost. This food waste is worth an estimated $27 billion each year.1
Over the past few years, the food industry has come together to identify opportunities for businesses along food value chains to streamline their operations, reduce food waste and increase profit, while making better use of scarce resources and managing risk.
We are proud of achieving a landfill diversion rate of 91.5% in 2016. However, we still have work to do to ensure that food waste and other organics from our facilities does not end up in landfill. We plan to investigate how food waste is impacting our supply chain in more detail in 2017.
Meat that does not meet our quality or food safety standards is inedible and cannot be sold or donated. In 2015, we identified options to divert packaged meat waste to bio-digesters for the generation of electricity. We have been working with Stormfisher Environmental, which owns and operates a 2.85 MW biogas facility in London, Ontario, that can convert up to 100,000 tonnes of organic waste each year into renewable energy and organic-based fertilizer. In addition to inedible meat products, biogas is a landfill diversion opportunity for our wastewater treatment waste sludge that is typically not accepted by the rendering industry.
In 2016, we diverted over 1,700 metric tonnes of organics to Stormfisher from our Ontario facilities, who in turn produced over 50,000 m3 of biogas and over 700,000 kWh of green electricity provided back to the provincial grid. This effort also prevented over 1,000 metric tonnes of CO2 from being released to the atmosphere and produced over 50 metric tonnes of organic fertilizer. For more details, click here.
We are excited to build on the success of this initiative, and further explore biogas technology in the future.
1Developing an Industry Led Approach to Addressing Food Waste in Canada. Provision Coalition, 2014.