THE ENVIRONMENT POSITIVELY
From its different spheres of influence, Grupo Herdez continuously seeks to transform its ideas and resources into better conditions for all our audiences, from customers to the residents of the communities where we operate.
TRANSFORMING OUR WORKPLACE
As part of the improvement projects that arose out of the organizational climate survey, in 2015 we focused on projects concerning leadership and organizational culture.
The first of these projects was the Leadership Brigade. With a projected duration of two years, the program aims to strengthen the role our leaders play in creating a uniform leadership culture based on accountability and results. To achieve this, we have a group of certified employees who are responsible for training the organization’s seven hundred leaders between 2015 and 2016.
In terms of organizational culture, through HerdezMan, a ludic corporate dynamic, 6,300 employees around the country experienced the Group’s values.
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During the year, we invested $8.3 million in training, which allowed us to increase training hours by 11% to a total of 111,458 man-hours, an annual average of 13.4 hours per employee.
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Our Healthy Eating Program continued to bear fruit within the Group. During 2015, 700 employees in Mexico City, the State of Mexico and San Luis Potosí lost a combined total of 1,612 kilos. This program is personalized, free and monitored on a monthly basis, and offers employees meal and exercise plans to improve their quality of life and develop healthy habits.
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We promote equality among our personnel through our Gender Equality Policy. The wages for each category or vacant position are determined regardless of gender; 43% of the current workforce are women.
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No occupational diseases or fatalities were reported among our employees in 2015. It is important to mention that the regulatory system we use to record and report accidents is in accordance with the provisions of the Social Security Law in Mexico.
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The Health and Safety in the Workplace commissions represent 78% of our personnel and are comprised on the basis of the provisions of the Federal Labor Law in Mexico. To achieve 100% coverage, in 2015 we integrated the Health and Safety plan into the Nutrisa® store opening project.
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TRANSFORMING OUR BUSINESS CULTURE
Our actions are in strict adherence to our Code of Ethics, which is mandatory for all employees and extends to external advisors and service providers.
We have an Ethics and Transparency Working Group comprised of six members from various areas, who join forces with the management team to provide advice on ethical and lawful conduct.
To foster ethical behavior, all employees have access to an anonymous grievance system with three formal channels of communication:
- Mail boxes in certain locations
- Email: confianza@herdez.com and etica@nutrisa.com
- Toll-free line 01 800 CONFIANZA (01 800 266 342 692).
These outlets are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The managers, directors and Legal, Human Resources and Internal Audit areas are responsible for providing advice on the complaints and allegations. All have the support of a group of companies that work under the name of the Ethics and Compliance Forum and which share experiences, operating mechanisms and best practices in matters of ethics.
During the year, we received 274 complaints and 64 allegations, of which 92% have been resolved, including three cases of corruption that are 100% resolved. The remaining 8% are under investigation at the close of this report. For each incident, a record is generated of the corrective action, which may consist of a warning or even dismissal for breach of the Code of Ethics.
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We also provide training courses in anti-corruption, a clause that is included in our Code of Ethics. All members of the Board of Directors have been informed of the Group’s policies and procedures on this topic.
In 2015, three employees were dismissed, two for corruption-related incidents and one for discrimination.
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At Grupo Herdez we recognize the importance of protecting the human rights of employees, suppliers and contractors. This is reflected in our Human Rights Policy and in our Code of Conduct for Suppliers. The latter seeks to strengthen the framework of sustainability in the supply chain.
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The Board of Directors is the Group’s highest governing body. The Chairman of the Board is also the Chief Executive Officer. Board members are required to have: i) professional training in economic-administrative sciences and master’s degree in those areas; ii) twenty years’ minimum professional experience in consumer companies and/or the finance sector; iii) experience as board members in manufacturing industry companies and/or the finance sector; and iv) belong to industrial chambers.
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The Board meets at least quarterly and has intermediate bodies in charge of monitoring the management and execution of the Company’s objectives. During the Board meetings, a sustainability performance report is presented, which includes environmental performance and quality of life indicators for employees.
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In accordance with Company bylaws, the remuneration received by Board members is two $50.00 peso gold centenary coins or their equivalent for attending each meeting; this remuneration is not dependent on the Group’s profits. The Corporate Practices Committee is responsible for validating the remuneration of the Company’s senior executives, including the Chief Executive Officer.
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To avoid conflicts of interest, each Board member signs a declaration that guarantees the absence of conflicts, and each Committee has regulations that establish its functions and relationship with the Board of Directors.
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TRANSFORMING COMMITMENTS INTO THRIVING COMMUNITIES
Grupo Herdez’ social commitment through the years has led us to transform the way we approach the needs of the communities where we operate. We are concerned about their welfare and, as a leader in the food sector, focus our efforts on improving nutrition in our country. During the year, we invested 3.3% of consolidated net income into community development programs.
Through Saber Nutrir® we develop capabilities that allow us to improve quality of life and drive the local economy, as well as to enrich eating habits. This program is present in 75% of the states where our plants and distribution centers are located.
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In the Mazahua community in the State of Mexico, we launched the construction of the second Germplasm Bank, which will enable them to preserve regional plants and seeds for up to ten years. This project promotes the development of new skills in the community and protects the cultural and natural heritage.
To monitor the efficiency of Saber Nutrir® in the communities, twice a year we conduct a check on the nutritional status of the children of benefited families. In the year, 70% remained stable, 23% improved and 7% worsened.
Furthermore, thanks to the Padrinos Saber Nutrir initiative, 41 severely malnourished children in Mazahua communities improved their nutritional status through the consumption of food supplements financed mainly by the Group’s employees. In Tapachula, Chiapas we have three early stimulation centers, where malnourished children are diagnosed and provided with food supplements. In addition, during the corporate volunteer day, 488 work hours were contributed for the installation of ten production projects and the forestation of two hectares of land.
In the food education project in elementary schools, we provided more than a million hours of education to benefit children, teachers and parents in ten states in the country.
Through Fundación Herdez®, we preserve Mexican cuisine and reexamine basic foods based on research in the anthropological, social, historic and industrial fields.
During the year, the Fundación Herdez® museum received more than 9,000 visitors, and the Interpretation Center served as the venue for 15 academic events attended by 280 people.
In 2015, we recognized the career of and paid tribute to Diana Kennedy, a researcher and author on traditional Mexican cooking, and published the book “Ahuácatl: a delicious and nutritious fruit”, which can be downloaded from http://biblioteca.herdez.com.mx
Through the monthly food donation program, we delivered 243,530 boxes of products to the Mexican Food Bank.
ENVIRONMENT
At Grupo Herdez, we work hard to reduce our ecological footprint and transform impacts into sustainable actions through various initiatives to protect the environment and take care of natural resources.
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We have three installations to capture and store rainwater in Cuautitlán (McCormick plant and distribution center) and San Luis Potosí (El Duque industrial complex). During 2015, we recycled and/or reused 4% of the total volume of water captured.
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Our production processes use natural resources efficiently; we strive to reduce and recycle our waste and reincorporate it into new production chains, hence in the year, we were able to reduce waste generation by 55%.
We also achieved a 49% reduction in CO2e air emissions. This was possible thanks to the wind energy project located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, which supplies energy to six of our locations.
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In the last three years, we have decreased the intensity of emissions per production unit to reach 0.22 tons of CO2e/ton produced, which means a reduction of 7%. Furthermore, we have replaced ozone-depleting refrigerants, thus eliminating these harmful emissions across all Grupo Herdez operations.