Materiality Assessment
In 2021, we conducted an updated materiality assessment to reflect the utmost relevant environmental, social and governance reporting for our stakeholders.
As in years past, our materiality assessment has driven forward our approach to sustainability and allows us to prioritize topics most important to our business and external stakeholders, including customers, consumers, employees, communities and shareholders.
Our 2021 materiality assessment engaged a wide variety of external stakeholders, and a number of employees, such as operation leads across teams, including but not limited to, packaging innovation, supply chain, consumer strategy, agriculture and financial planning and analysis, as well as members from our PLP Leadership Team and Governing Council, and senior management.
External stakeholder engagement included interviews and surveys of IGOs, NGOs and trade bodies as well as investors, industry analysts, customers and suppliers. As part of the external engagement, we surveyed over 1,000 consumers.
The materiality assessment sourced topics and their relevancy from stakeholder engagement including surveys and interviews, and leading third-party ESG frameworks, standard-setters, rating agencies and providers.
Our Materiality Matrix
As demonstrated in our materiality assessment matrix, we have identified 24 material topics, which are stratified across three tiers of materiality. While we have tiered material topics, we recognize all areas are material and drive forward our success and strategy. The Strategic tier reflects topics where we can show leadership and differentiate ourselves, the Priority tier reflects priority material topics and the Material tier reflects general material topics. Additionally, we have designated topic categorization under People, Communities, Planet and Governance.
Materiality Assessment Disclaimer
The use of the terms “material,” “materiality” and other similar terminology in certain statements we make relating to Purpose-led Performance (“PLP”) and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters, including those in our PLP reports or on our websites, refers to topics that reflect our significant PLP and ESG impacts or to topics that substantially influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders sourced from stakeholder engagement including surveys and interviews, and leading third-party ESG frameworks, standard-setters, rating agencies and providers. We do not use these terms as they have been defined by or construed in accordance with the securities laws or any other laws of the United States or any other jurisdiction, or as these terms are used in the context of financial statements and financial reporting. No communication in our PLP reports, websites or other statements we make related to PLP and ESG matters are intended to be construed to indicate otherwise.