UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. (URC), the food group of the Gokongwei family, said on Monday it is adopting long-term sustainability commitments that will form part of its core business strategy.
The company said it will adopt the environment, social and governance (ESG) framework, a set of standards for a company’s operations that some investors use to screen investments. According to URC, the framework goes beyond corporate social responsibility.
“Sustainability is a key expectation of URC’s stakeholders from investors [and] communities who live around URC’s plants, to the government who mandates to comply with all regulations and the media who look upon URC as industry leaders in leading sustainable business practices,” the company said.
“At URC, we reimagine snack foods and beverages as not only bringing delight to consumers, but also benefiting our key stakeholders and the environment. Each of us has a critical role to play in making sure that we take care of our world,” URC President and CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei said in a statement. “Everyone, from our rank-and-file employees to our most senior directors, has a job to do, and we must all do it well. It’s not so hard when we work together as one family.”
Gokongwei added that as the company “continues to grow, sustainability would play an even more critical role in our core business strategy and culture.”
“We will transform with a purpose; we will lead through sustainability,” he said. “And it is with great pride and tremendous energy that we now embark on this purposeful transformation.”
The company said this strategy will become its sustainability commitments that focus on natural resources, people and products for the initial period of five years.
URC said the company will later on expand the strategy to cover two additional commitments: supply chain and economic focus areas, both of which are targeted to be achieved by 2030.
URC’s ESG commitments is highlighted with the release of the company’s first-ever “Sustainability Report,” which is referenced to the Global Reporting Initiative Standards, the widely used sustainability reporting framework around the globe.
URC intends to come out with this report every two years to report its achievements in the areas of sustainability, according to Gokongwei.
He explained that reporting on the company’s sustainability performance will now be a deliberate undertaking at URC.
“Having defined the sustainability focus areas of URC’s business, this reporting practice will serve as the mechanism by which the company will track and measure its progress on this enterprise-wide transformation,” Gokongwei said.