ESG Report 2023-2024
Growing our sustainable future
Overview
Our 2023-24 ESG Report details our progress towards growing our sustainable future through creating the environment and opportunities to enable and empower our people to excel, making a difference in the communities in which we live and work and achieving our 2030 strategy.
Years of delivering our promise
Colleagues Around The World
Billion Packs of Produce Supplied P.A.
Message From Guy W Shropshire
“Our commitment to the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit is central to our strategy. As progressive growers, we make a difference by developing our people, caring for the environment and supporting local communities, while supplying quality fresh produce that delights our customers every day. We are here for the long term, with sustainability at the centre of our decision making.”
Guy W Shropshire, G’s Group CEO
A Year of Impact
The world is facing ever increasing disruption from war, inequality and the impact of climate change, our ambition is to improve our resilience and sustainability across all our operations. The video below celebrates the progress our teams have made in delivering our promise during the last year.
Our Approach to ESG
Our ESG strategy is fully embedded into our business strategy; by 2030 we aim to have mitigated 45% of GHG emissions from our own operations since 2020 and improved our soil health & biodiversity.
Our Four Pillars of ESG
In January 2021, we launched our ESG strategy across our businesses under four ESG pillars, aligning with the UN SDG’s where we believe we will have an impact.
The four pillars guide our ESG activities and are used as a management tool to ensure we are making progress on an annual basis.
Our Journey So Far
2010 to
2020
G’s sustainability commitments managed through a CSR approach and energy reduction KPI
2021
ESG Framework formally launched Champions model introduced
2021/22
100 ESG champions recruited from across the G’s Group V1 ESG plans developed
2022/23
Launch of 2030 strategy main-streaming our ESG ambitions.
Focus on GHG emission reductions through establishment of SBTi approved value chain footprint.
30% of colleagues working within GPTW accredited business units
1st Annual ESG Report Published
2023/24
Annual ESG Report published online in all group languages.
Biodiversity baseline mapping and measurements completed across the group.
Annual farming conference held with grower focus on transition plans for Regen Ag across all farming locations.
11 out of 12 UK businesses achieve Great Place to Work certification with G’s Espana retaining certification for a second year.
2024/25
4 ESG PRIORITIES
– Great Place to Work
– Regenerative Agriculture
– Biodiversity
– GHG Emissions Reduction
3 KEY ACTIONS
– Build commitment through the organisation
– Set quantifiable goals
– Build a trackable plan to hold ourselves accountable
2030
TARGET STATE All our businesses are rated Great Place To Work for All. All our farming is based on regenerative principles. We use our seed-to-shelf capability to deliver the highest standards of integrity. We have mitigated 45% of GHG emissions since 2020.
Our Champion Model
Key to enabling G’s ESG programme is our champion’s model.
The champion’s model is a grass roots movement of colleagues from across our businesses who facilitate and support business change and learning focused on our ESG objectives and targets.
Alongside their core roles, our Champions have volunteered to get involved in projects, challenge the status quo and take a positive role in growing our sustainable and inclusive future.
Our ESG Champions work cross functionally to support our ESG ambitions through networking and knowledge sharing both internally and externally.
Our Progress in Numbers
A Great Place to Work For All
Biodiversity
Community
GHG Emissions Reductions
Food Waste
Regenerative Agriculture
Community
We seek to improve the wellbeing of our communities by having a positive social impact.
We aspire to be good neighbours and make a positive contribution within our communities.
We recognise our role in supporting them to thrive and we seek to inspire our communities to engage with and appreciate farming and food.
Our devolved business units and teams are empowered to support the community activities, they believe can have the most meaningful local impact.
Open Farm Sunday
We have supported Open Farm Sunday since its creation in 2006. At our last Open Farm Sunday in June 2023, we welcomed > 7,000 members of our community to our Barway Farm.
Charitable Donations
Across the group our philanthropic efforts are focused on a range of organisations and charities that we support in variety of ways through monetary, product, time and facilities donations.
Our support for the East Anglia Air Ambulance has surpassed >£100,000 since our partnership commenced.
Sowing Seeds
We operate our school engagement program Sowing Seeds, in the UK, Spain Poland and Senegal. The aim of the program is to inspire children to better understand farming and where their food come from.
Early Careers & School Engagment
Over the past year we have attended 111 events across 65 different educational establishments, reaching over 100,000 individuals. Including careers fairs / talks, mock interviews, employability skills training and work experience.
A Great Place to Work For All
Throughout our business we promote a culture based on trust, empowerment and engagement. By 2030 our aim is for all G’s businesses to be officially recognised Great Place to Work for All
We believe A Great Place to Work is built upon trust. This means openness, respect, and teamwork, in a safe, ethical environment.
Our ambition is to build high performance teams across G’s, who never stop learning, take pride in excellent results, and in which leaders are credible and individuals are treated with respect.
G's España 100% GPTW Certified for Second Year
In December 2022 G’s España as a total business in Spain achieved Great Place to Work certification. The first produce business in Spain to achieve this certification. In December 2023 this certification was retained for a second year.
11 Out of 12 UK Business Achieve GPTW Certification
In November 2023 all UK businesses participated in the Great Place to Work Survey with 11 business units achieving certification.
G’s Littleport Mushroom Farm Certified : A Best Workplace & G’s Group Holdings Best Workplace for Women
Both business units have retained and built on the official accreditation achieved in 2022.
G’s Ethics Team - Winners of the Co-op Treating People Fairly Award
Our responsible recruitment initiatives is a case study that describes our strategic approach to addressing the risk of modern slavery & exploitation in our recruitment channels.
Biodiversity
Improving our biodiversity is central to our 2030 strategy and our ambition in relation to regenerative agriculture.
Through our transition to regenerative agriculture and habitat creation across all our farms we will build ecosystems that will maintain active and diverse populations of beneficial’s.
Our approach will build on local farm and site action to improve habitats and ecosystems and implement a consistent recording and reporting format.
We will use our data to inform our decisions and drive our work to improve biodiversity on all the land that we own or control.
12%
Of the land we own, or control is currently in wildlife habitats.
3.96 out of 5
Our is our average biodiversity score across our farms.
300ha
We have 300ha of wildflower meadows across our farms.
LEAF Accreditation
G’s UK, Spanish and Senegalese farms are LEAF accredited. Cambs Farms has been a LEAF Demonstration Farm for over 20 years.
Food Waste
We are targeting a 50% reduction in food waste by 2025, in-line with the Courtauld 2025 targets and UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. Since 2017 we have reduced our food waste volumes, measured back to the field.
Precision agriculture techniques and growing enhancements across our farms are enabling us to maximise yields and reduce waste through embracing new technology.
Our teams work closely with customers to optimise specifications to ensure more of the crop is utilised and stays fresher for longer.
When unavoidable food surplus does occur, we have worked with customers to enhance processes to facilitate redistribution and donations of edible and nutritious produce to those who are most in need.
Volumes Held Since 2017
Since 2017, we have maintained actual volume of food waste back to the field, while increasing our overall production by +20%
>4M Meals Donated
G’s has Leading Food Partner Status with FareShare. As of May 2024 we have donated the equivalent of 4m meals since 2017 from our UK operations.
>24,700kgs Donated in 2023/24
Our European businesses (Spain, Czech and Poland) partner with Caritas, Bancos de Alimentos and Cuiavia SPOiW.
Regenerative Agriculture
Over the past eight years we have been developing and testing regenerative agricultural practices and our 2030 strategy embeds regenerative agriculture across all our farms.
We have defined our 6 principles, building on the generally accepted principles of regenerative agriculture that will underpin all our farming practices.
- Minimise soil disturbance
- Maintain living roots
- Maximise diversity
- Keep soil covered
- Integrate livestock
- Recognise context
We are working with international thought leaders to develop a clear set of metrics to enable us to measure and demonstrate progress.
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming which feeds and protects organisms in the soil, which in turn feed plants and maximises their photosynthesis.
Our Farming will be Based on Regenerative Principles
This is an approach to farming which feeds and protects organisms in the soil, which in turn feed plants and maximises their photosynthesis. This heightened biological activity allows farmers to produce the greatest yield at the lowest cost.
3rd Annual Farming Conference
Our annual farming conference in February 2024 was attended by >120 internal colleagues and invited guests. The theme for this year’s conference was centered on our transition to regenerative practices.
> 5,000 ha’s of Cover Crops
Planted across our international farming operations are one of the first steps in the Regenerative Agriculture transition menu.
Johnson Su Capacity to Feed 7,000 ha on Cambs Farms
Our Johnson-Su bioreactor large scale process trial allows the proliferation and application of soil microbes that thrive in lower disturbance environments, typically those “higher-up” the soil food web.
GHG Emissions Reduction
We have set an ambition of net zero across our own operations (scopes 1 & 2) by 2035. This includes all of our own farming operations as well as processing and packing.
We are committed to setting ourselves stretch targets, aligned with science backed 1.5 degree pathways and approved by the science based targets initiative SBTi.
By ensuring the impact on GHG emissions is part of daily business decisions, we will reduce emissions throughout our operations and empower our colleagues to create positive impact on the future of the business and the environment.
Setting Our Baseline
Our 2019/20 GHG emissions baseline is 375,000 t CO2e (Excluding. Soil).
21% of Our Emissions are in Scope 1&2
We have worked with the Carbon Trust to complete a GHG inventory of emissions.
21% is Scope 1&2 – within our own operations, while 79% is Scope 3 – upstream and downstream.
Soil Carbon
We are currently working with DownForce, using satellite imagery to quantify soil carbon emissions and sequestration and accurately measure soil carbon.
75%
Of our total emissions are made up of: Transport (24%) / Fuel (11%) / Packaging (10%) / Traded Produce & Raw Materials (10%), Fertiliser (8%) / Propagation Peat (7%) / Water (5%) & Refrigerants (4%)
Impact Stories
Biodiversity
Soil Health
Water Usage & Conservation
Tackling Modern Slavery
LEAF Open Farm Sunday
Great Place to Work for All
Regenerative Farming
Careers & Community Engagement
2024/25 Priorities
Through 2024 and 2025 we will FOCUS our efforts on 4 priorities and for each of these we are driving 3 key actions
4
Priorities
4
Priorities
1
Great Place to Work for All
2
Regenerative Agriculture
3
Biodiversity
4
GHG Emissions Reduction
We will continue with our established activities in:
- Food Waste; goal to achieve 50% reduction by 2030
- Community; where every business sets its own objectives
3
Key Actions:
3
Key Actions:
1
Build commitment with stakeholders
2
Set quantifiable goals
3
Build trackable plans and hold ourselves accountable
Governance
In our devolved business structure, our governance is overseen by our group management board and is rooted in our Promise, Philosophy and Values. Our internal system of practices, controls, and procedures allows our businesses the independence to make effective decisions, comply with the law, and meet the needs of our stakeholders.