"Food giants are listening to demands for sustainability", 9 Oct 2014

Since the last update of the Behind the Brands scorecard in February 2014, all of the Big 10 have published new policies or assessments relating to the issues covered within the campaign. The latest update of the scorecard sees all companies apart from Danone improving their score in at least one of the seven themes...The greatest improvements in score have been recorded by PepsiCo (with an increase of 11% since February 2014), followed by the company previously ranked 10th, General Mills (with an increase of 9%)...The two companies at the top of the scorecard, Nestlé and Unilever also saw significant increases of 6% and 7% respectively, with both having demonstrated real improvements in their approach to responsible sourcing...There is a unique opportunity for pre-competitive collaboration among the Big 10, where companies can systematically engage suppliers within shared supply chains, share best practice with peers, engage in advocacy towards governments and other regulators, and work with NGOs and community groups that are crucial in addressing many of the issues highlighted in the Behind the Brands campaign...There is still significant scope for all ten companies to improve across the seven themes of the scorecard. For example, while we've seen incremental improvements in the water and transparency themes, there remains much potential for bolder steps.