Best practice in responsible business performance and reporting is constantly developing. Our current CR programme reflects changes both in the operation, scale and development of the Group and influencing economic, social and environmental factors.
Central commitments and KPIs are managed under the stewardship of relevant Management Board Directors. Their leadership is assessed alongside their wider performance as part of their Personal
Development Review.
Progress reports and approval for significant strategic developments are presented to the Management Board. Notification of significant strategic developments are reported to the Corporate Compliance and Responsibility Committee for review and comment.
A description of the structure and responsibilities of both the Management Board and the Corporate Compliance and Responsibility Committee can be found in the Corporate governance report on pages 47 to 58.
FRESH
MORRISONS FARMING PROGRAMME
Since 2009, the Morrisons farming programme has been at the centre of our relationship with the farming community. Farmers involved in the programme include the 2,600 beef, pork and lamb farmers who all supply directly into our Woodheads meat business.
The key objective of the programme is to work closely with the UK farming supply base to ensure it’s fit for the future and able to provide high quality, affordable food for our customers from sustainable production practices.
We saw the first tangible result of our own livestock breeding programme at our farm at Dumfries House; two bulls bred on the farm were selected for their superior breeding characteristics and, for the first time in the UK, their feed conversion efficiency. Coupled with changes in beef rearing systems, superior genetics have the potential to reduce the amount of animal feed required to produce 1kg of beef by as much as 38%, freeing up a significant land area for additional food production and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In September, we hosted our first Farm Open Day and Agriculture Briefing at Dumfries House, where we showcased the latest developments in beef and lamb production. A major focus of the day was increasing volatility in agricultural markets and how we can work
Left:
Group Corporate Services director, Martyn Jones talking at Morrisons agriculture briefing.
Strategic r epor t Go vernance Financial st atements
Good
More of
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Stuff
We have focused on opportunities in food redistribution within the supply chain and have begun to support the UK’s first ‘social supermarket’ as a trial. Morrisons own brand products that would ordinarily be redistributed to company shops in the food industry can now be used in a community equivalent. Access is allowed for people on low incomes, established through their entitlement to benefits, and is further limited by membership criteria. The community shop is being run as a social enterprise and has the potential to extend into a network with greater reach.
Consumer food waste is best tackled through consistent communication, delivered in a positive way. We’ve operated our own Great Taste, Less Waste campaign for a number of years delivering simple, effective and regular messages to our customers.
We’re now changing consumer communications into the more widely recognised Love Food, Hate Waste campaign designed by WRAP and adopted by the wider grocery retail sector. The messages are very similar but we have accepted that a more uniform approach will ultimately help broaden consumer awareness.
PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY DEAL
Morrisons is a signatory to the Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal, which aims to tackle health inequalities through food, alcohol, physical activity and health in the workplace.
Under the Deal, we’ve signed a series of collaborative pledges and annually report our progress to the Department of Health. In August, we began to roll out the Department of Health’s traffic light labelling system on Morrisons own brand products, providing clearer nutritional information to our customers, helping them to easily monitor fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt intake. The labelling is implemented in line with labelling changes under the Food Information for Consumers Regulation.
In October, we also signed a new pledge on saturated fat, to support and enable people to consume less saturated fat through actions such as product/menu reformulation, reviewing portion sizes, education and information, and incentivising customers to choose healthier options.
REDUCING EMISSIONS
Group GHG Emissions for year ending 31st December
Emission source Baseline Year2005 Prior Year2012 Current Year2013 Change vs. Baseline
Combustion of fuel and operation of facilities
Natural Gas 102,470 138,842 148,129 +44.6% Haulage 139,847 106,021 97,294 (30.4%) Business Miles 4,511 4,771 4,217 (6.5%)
Fugitive Emissions
Refrigerant 455,929 217,481 190,793 (58.2%)
Energy purchased for own use
Electricity 798,596 730,109 697,310 (12.7%) Other Staff Travel 37,282 36,117 35,081 (5.9%) Waste 36,730 23,030 21,606 (41.2%) Total 1,575,365 1,256,371 1,194,430 (24.2%) Intensity ratio: kg CO2e per ft² GIA 50.4 33.4 31.3 (37.9%) Methodology
The information below left is taken from our Group Carbon Footprint, prepared by SKM Enviros on our behalf since 2007. We have reported for the calendar year 1 January to 31 December for all years in order to remain consistent with these reports.
We have used UK Government’s Environmental Reporting Guidance (2013 version) to prepare these numbers, and the latest emissions factors from DEFRA/DECC’s GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting. The report includes all major sources of carbon emissions from the operation of the Group’s supermarkets, manufacturing and distribution sites and operation of its haulage fleet. Some minor exemptions are:
Subsidiaries and joint ventures
ÖBos Bros: Dutch vegetable packer that deals with energy locally;
ÖWm Morrison (HK) Ltd: Hong Kong office that deals with energy locally;
ÖThe Morrisons Farm at Dumfries House Ltd: joint venture that deals with energy locally; and
ÖWm Morrison Bananas Ltd: a subsidiary that is operated by the minority shareholder.
Sites
ÖA number of distribution sites are operated by third parties who are responsible for the energy and carbon, including Dordon, Birstall, Feltham, Bury, Willand, Droitwich, Clipper, Northfleet, Bathgate and Bunzl.
Sources
ÖFuel oil: Only three sites have fuel oil, which is estimated to account for less than 0.1% of the total footprint.
SERVICE
LET’S GROW
Our award winning Let’s Grow programme completed its sixth year of operation. The programme’s ongoing commitment is to educate children, our shoppers of tomorrow, about the life cycle of food through the practical experience of growing fresh fruit and vegetables in an outdoor environment.
Let’s Grow provides UK schools with free gardening equipment, cooking equipment and key teaching resources. Since the scheme began in 2008, we have now given away over £18m worth of equipment.
Our newly appointed in-store Community Champions helped to engage with local schools taking part in the Let’s Grow programme, encouraging tours of Morrisons Market Street and hosting school assemblies on the story of food.
Working with Garden Organic, we have also introduced online learning for teachers with a selection of gardening webinars.
Following research and feedback from registered schools, we are now planning a Let’s Grow refresh. We will launch a Morrisons educational website aimed at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 levels, to explain the process of food before it arrives at Morrisons. Resources on the site will also include a series of films and supporting lesson plans for each Market Street craft/discipline including meat, fish, produce and bakery.
Left:
Traffic light labelling introduced on our products.