Loblaw Companies Limited

In 2022, the company conducted a TCFD-aligned climate risk assessment under a 1.5°C scenario on medium- (2030) and long-term (2050) time horizons. Loblaw Companies Limited identified changing consumer preferences from higher carbon footprint products as a risk and responded to consumer demand by expanding its plant-based product offerings. While the analysis covered cattle supply chains, not all animal agricultural commodities were included.

The company has not yet reported a full breakdown of its Scope 3 emissions derived from animal agriculture, nor a breakdown by protein type. Although, the company estimates from modelling that 97% of its total emissions are attributed to Scope 3, with over 95% from Purchased Goods and Services.

The company does not have an SBTi-approved reduction target for Scope 3 emissions covering animal agriculture supply chains in line with FLAG guidance. Loblaw Companies Limited instead has an SBTi-validated commitment for 70% of its suppliers by spend covering purchased goods and services to establish science-based targets by 2027; however, the temperature alignment of this commitment is unspecified.

The company does not report quantitative data on protein diversification's emissions mitigation potential or financial opportunity, however, the company acknowledges in its climate disclosure that shifting consumer preferences from products with high carbon footprints towards alternatives could change product offerings in store. The company is responding to this change in consumer demand for lower carbon products by expanding its plant-based product range. The company also states that introducing new plant-based products affects its financial planning due to an incremental cost in production.

The company states that it will respond to changing consumer demand for lower carbon products and expand its plant-based range accordingly. However, this is not integrated in the company's climate transition plan and it has not yet established a public protein diversification target.

The company has not yet set a public protein diversification target.

The company has not yet set a public protein diversification target.

The company has not yet set a public protein diversification target.

The company has not set a public protein diversification target, but discloses the number of PC® Plant Based products in its portfolio, offering 64 control brand products in FY2024.

The company has reported the number of PC® Plant Based products in its portfolio annually since FY2022, decreasing from 95 control brand products in FY2022, to 90 in FY2023, and 64 in FY2024.

The company has 10% of its short-term incentive plan linked to ESG metrics, which includes developing a supplier data framework and executing a keynote Scope 3 carbon reduction effort with the company's suppliers. However, protein diversification is not included in the company's Scope 3 emissions reduction goals or board incentives.

The company discloses that 23% of its board members have expertise in environmental and social issues.

While the company discloses that 15% of its board members are skilled in health and wellness from the pharmacy and drug sector, there is no evidence that the company's board members have expertise in nutrition or healthy diets.

The company references its engagement with governments and discloses a list of its policy positions on various issues including biodiversity, responsible sourcing, animal welfare, water use and human rights. However, the company does not disclose a full list of its direct lobbying activities as related to its food business, providing one example of responding to the public consultation on the Draft Federal Offset Protocol: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Refrigeration Systems.

The company has not disclosed a list of its direct lobbying actions, making it unclear if these are aligned with positive climate or nutrition outcomes.

The company discloses a dedicated list of its memberships and partnerships with associations and coalitions, including the Consumer Goods Forum, Canadian Alliance for Net-Zero Agrifood (CANZA), Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative, ECCC net-zero challenge and Waste Reduction 10x20x30 Initiative.

The company assesses some of its associations, such as the Consumer Goods Forum and the Waste Reduction 10x20x30 Initiative, as aligned with the Paris Agreement, but does not disclose an assessment of alignment or misalignment of other affiliate associations with positive climate or nutrition outcomes.

The company has not committed to Just Transition principles.

The company has not committed to retain, reskill, redeploy or compensate workers affected by its emissions reduction efforts.

It is unclear how Loblaw Companies Limited is supporting its animal agriculture suppliers to transition to more sustainable practices despite disclosing evidence of broad supplier engagement programmes. The company participates in the Canadian Alliance for Net-Zero Agrifood (CANZA), which brings together farmers and industry partners to develop, test and scale innovative farming technologies, derisking and incentivising the adoption of regenerative agriculture and carbon farming practices.

The company does not have a Just Transition strategy that covers animal agriculture.

The company states that it engages directly with its suppliers through various channels, including supplier engagement meetings, its vendor portal, category leads, the supply chain compliance department, integrity action line, and a publicly available supplier communication email. However, the company has not disclosed the specific stakeholders or topics discussed, nor how the information gathered is used to support suppliers in transitioning to more sustainable practices.

The company does not have a Just Transition strategy and so has no associated KPIs.

The company does not have a Just Transition strategy and so has no associated KPIs.

There is no evidence that Loblaw Companies Limited launched new plant-based products in the past year. The company's own PC® Plant Based range continued to decease in FY2024 to 64 products from 90 in FY2023.

There is no evidence that Loblaw Companies Limited has allocated resource to improve the performance of alternative protein products in the past year.

Loblaw Companies Limited does not have a minimum health and nutrition requirement for its alternative protein source portfolio aligned with a government-endorsed nutrient profiling system.

There is no evidence that Loblaw Companies Limited is reformulating alternative protein products to improve nutrition attributes. Although the company has a Simple Check range with over 950 products that are formulated to remove specific ingredients of health concern, such as synthetic colours, artificial flavours, monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners or brominated vegetable oils, specific examples of alternative protein products reformulated with improved nutritional attributes are not disclosed.

There is no evidence that Loblaw Companies Limited is reformulating alternative protein products to improve sustainability attributes.

There is no evidence that Loblaw Companies Limited has committed to marketing and merchandising strategies related to alternative proteins in its largest markets.

Loblaw Companies Limited is marketing and merchandising alternative protein products in its largest Canadian market through price discount offers, subscription savings and promotional incentives on its website for plant-based options, such as Just Egg, Beyond Meat plant-based burgers, Silk non-dairy milks and Upton's Natural jackfruit.

Loblaw Companies Limited is working to ensure its alternative protein source products are accessible and affordable in its largest Canadian market. The company merchandises its PC® Plant Based products adjacent to their animal-based counterparts, making it convenient for consumers to find plant-based alternatives. Additionally, the company offers a range of 40 no name: Naturally ImperfectTM fruits and vegetable products that are slightly misshapen or smaller at lower prices, adding 8 new items such as eggplant and brussel sprouts in 2024.

Loblaw Companies Limited has conducted consumer research relating to demand for alternative protein sources, however, there is no evidence of research relating to consumer trends in the sector. The company's President's Choice brand conducted consumer research in 2021 to gauge consumer demand for plant-based alternatives, finding that 49% of Canadians were interested in trying them.

There is no evidence that Loblaw Companies Limited has used consumer research relating to healthy diets to inform its marketing and merchandising strategy for alternative protein sources.