Misleading labelling

In 2023 this company paid penalties totalling $33,000 after the ACCC issued it with two infringement notices for alleged false or misleading labelling of the country and place of origin on lobster products and failing to comply with the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard.

Source: ACCC (2023)

Modern Slavery disclosure quality

Human Rights Law Centre's 2022 report, "Broken Promises: Two years of corporate reporting under Australia's Modern Slavery Act", examines statements submitted to the Government's Modern Slavery Register by 92 companies sourcing from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia, seafood from Thailand and fresh produce from Australia. Modern slavery statements are analysed to see if they comply with the mandatory reporting requirements, identify or disclose obvious modern slavery risks, and demonstrate effective actions to address risks. This company's modern slavery disclosure statement received a rating in the 41-60% range. The average score was 44% and the highest score was 89%.

Source: Human Rights Law Centre (2022)

Green Grades Report card

D for report card on paper practices of the office supply sector, (A best, F worst), covering chain of custody endangered forests plantations & controversial sources, responsible forestry & FSC-certification, recycling & reduction, and other leadership. [Listed under Information due to age of report]

Source: ForestEthics (2010)

Plastic pollution

In 2018 volunteers collected and catalogued more than 187,000 pieces of trash from beach cleanups around the world to find out which corporations are contributing the most to the global plastic pollution problem. While not in the top 10, this company ranked as one of the world's worst plastic polluters.

Source: #breakfreefromplastic (2018)

Palm oil scorecard - WWF

The 2024 WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard evaluates the progress and performance of 285 major retailers and manufacturer companies, focusing on actions companies have taken to ensure their own palm oil supply chain is sustainable and free of deforestation, natural ecosystem conversion, and human rights abuse. This company failed to respond to WWF's requests for information.

Source: WWF Palm Oil Scorecard (2024)

Guide to Healthy Cleaning grade (B-F)

EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning provides safety ratings for household cleaning products, with over 2,500 products rated from A (lowest concern) to F (highest concern). This company's score range is B to F, with 70% of their products scoring an F.

Source: Environmental Working Group (2020)

Workers rights in Cambodia

This 2014 report by the Workers Rights Consortium which investigates conditions at two Cambodian facilities owned by the Taiwanese-owned firm Zongtex Garment Manufacturing over the period 2010-2014 consistently identified serious violations, including underage workers, deprivinged workers of legally required compensation, coercing workers to work overtime, and providing workers with unclean drinking water that may endanger their health. This company is a key buyer from these factories. [Listed under Information due to age of report]

Source: Workers Rights Consortium (2014)

Conflict Minerals Ranking

In November 2017 the Enough Project published Demand the Supply, which ranked consumer electronics and jewelry retail companies on their efforts to develop conflict-free minerals supply chains from Congo. Companies were ranked on reporting; sourcing conflict-free minerals from Congo; supporting the artisanal mining communities in Eastern Congo; and conflict-free minerals advocacy. This company received a score of 7.5/120. [Listed under Information due to age of report]

Source: Enough Project (2017)

Involvement with prisons

As documented by the Project of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), this company is involved in the USA prison industry. Costco has prison labor in its supply chain.

Source: AFSC (2021)

Chocolate scorecard

Be Slavery Free's 2024 Chocolate Scorecard rates all the major chocolate companies on their labour and environmental policies and practices. Companies were asked questions in six areas: traceability and transparency; living income; child labor; deforestation and climate; agroforestry; and pesticides. This retailer received a grey rating: "Lacks transparency did not respond or complete".

Source: Be Slavery Free (2024)

17.7% in Newsweek Green Ranking 2017

This company received a score of 17.7/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.

Source: Newsweek (2017)

CEO Pay Ratio of 218:1

In 2022 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$45,450. The CEO was paid 218 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.

Source: AFL-CIO (2023)

Rainforest Alliance certified products

This company sells Rainforest Alliance certified products. However this only represents a fraction of this company's total private label products sales. Rainforest Alliance certification has been dubbed 'Fairtrade light' by critics, as it offers producers no minimum price for their crop, and guarantees a minimum of just 30% of the product is certified.

Source: Rainforest Alliance (2020)

Uzbek Cotton Pledge signatory

This company signed the Uzbek Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not knowingly source Uzbek cotton for the manufacturing of any of their products until the Government of Uzbekistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. However the Pledge was lifted in March 2022 after the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, who monitored the annual cotton harvest since 2010, found no state-imposed forced labor in the 2021 harvest.

Source: Cotton Campaign (2022)

Disclosure statement

Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement regarding human trafficking and anti-slavery.

Source: company website (2013)

BPA use

EWG's 2015 report "BPA in Canned Food" analyzed 252 canned food brands to find out which ones are still using BPA (bisphenol A), a synthetic estrogen found in the epoxy coatings of food cans which has been linked to many health problems. This company was amongst the 'Better Players' for using BPA free-cans for some of its brands and/or products.

Source: Environmental Working Group (2015)

Phase-out of bee-killing pesticides

This company encourages suppliers of garden plants to limit the use of non-essential chemicals, discourages use of neonicotinoid insecticides on pollinator-attractive plants and encourages use of eco-friendly methods of pest and disease control. Also expanding its selection of organic products, which supports pollinator health.

Source: FOE-US (2017)

Sow stall commitment

In July 2012 this company received praise from the Humane Society for announcing that it will eliminate gestation crates - small cages used to confine breeding pigs - from its pork supply chains.

Source: Humane Society of the US (2012)

Responsible Minerals Initiative member

This company is a member of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative), which helps companies address conflict minerals issues in their supply chains. The RMI provides information on conflict-free smelters and refiners, common tools to gather sourcing information, and forums for exchanging best practices on addressing conflict minerals. Membership is open to companies that use or transact in tantalum, tin, tungsten or gold (3TG). Founded in 2008 by members of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative.

Source: RMI (2019)

Sustainable Food Laboratory member

The Sustainable Food Lab is a network of business, public sector, and civil society leaders from around the globe who are working together to accelerate sustainability in mainstream food and agriculture.

Source: Sustainable Food Lab (2016)

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety member

This company is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a legally binding, five-year commitment to improve safety in Bangladeshi ready-made garment factories. The Alliance aims to improve worker safety in the Bangladesh garment industry by upgrading factories, educating workers and management, empowering workers, and building institutions that can enforce and maintain safe working conditions throughout Bangladesh. However it lacks an important enforcement mechanism included in the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and unlike the Accord, the Alliance has not received the endorsement of the ILO.

Source: Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (2020)

How2Recycle member

This company is a member of How2Recycle. The How2Recycle Label is a voluntary, standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public. It involves a coalition of forward thinking brands who want their packaging to be recycled and are empowering consumers through smart packaging labels. Companies must be a member of the program to use the How2Recycle Label.

Source: How2Recycle (2023)

Sustainability claims

This company has claims on its website listing their sustainability responsibilities for employees, for their communities, to operate efficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner, and to source merchandise in a sustainable manner.

Source: company website (2021)

CDP Climate Change score of C

In 2023, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change risk. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Climate Change score of C.

Source: CDP (2023)

CDP Forests score of C

In 2023, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts towards removing commodity-driven deforestation and forest degradation from its direct operations and supply chains. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Forests score of C.

Source: CDP (2023)

Modern Slavery statement

California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.

Source: company website (2020)

BHRRC company profile

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.

Source: BHRRC (2022)

Seafood Sustainability Scorecard

This company received a score of 5.3/10 in Grenpeace USA's 2015 Carting Away the Oceans (CATO) report, which evaluates and ranks supermarkets on their sustainable seafood policies.

Source: Greenpeace (2015)

OpenSecrets.org profile

OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.

Source: Open Secrets (2020)

JUST Capital ranking

JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2024 rankings the public identified 20 issues, which are organised under the headings Workers, Communities, Customers, Shareholders and Environment. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 252nd of 937 companies, and 7th of 42 Retail companies.

Source: JUST Capital (2024)