SMITHFIELD, Va. – Smithfield Foods, Inc. has announced the full release of its 2015 Sustainability and Financial Report. The release marks the final installation of the 2015 report, which has been released in parts over an 8-week time period. The company’s goal in releasing the report in parts was to provide an easy-access format to the report and to better engage a broad range of stakeholders.Over the past 8 weeks, Smithfield published the Animal Care, Environment, Food Safety and Quality, Helping Communities and People sections.
“At Smithfield, we understand that financial stability and sustainability efforts go hand-in-hand,” said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. “By leveraging our vertically integrated business model, our sustainability efforts drive efficiency throughout our operations and yield benefits all along our supply chain.”
Additional sections now available include Governance and Management, International Operations and Value Creation, along with key metrics measuring the company’s sustainability performance.
Smithfield’s commitment to sustainability, which are highlighted in the report, include:
- Being first in the industry to provide a clear, practical definition of “prevention” as it relates to antibiotics use in farm animals, part of the company’s refined and increased reporting in this area.
- Being the first pork company to publish an ingredient glossary, an online resource that lists and describes ingredients used in products across the company’s brands.
- Achieving and making significant progress in natural resource reduction targets including meeting its normalized greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal and nearly meeting its energy use reduction target four years ahead of its 2020 deadline.
- Increasing charitable giving by 30 percent over the previous year to $27.1 million.
- Launching new employee engagement programs and reinvigorating employee resource groups.
