Sustainable Procurement Management

The Fuji Oil Group first formulated the Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. CSR Procurement Guidelines in 2012 and then revised it in 2016 and 2021. We subsequently established our sourcing policies for key raw materials, through the Responsible Palm Oil Sourcing Policy in 2016 and the Responsible Cocoa Beans Sourcing Policy in 2018. In addition, we enacted the Supplier Code of Conduct and established our Responsible Soybeans and Soy Products Sourcing Policy, and Responsible Shea Kernels Sourcing Policy in 2021.

The Group’s Sustainability Committee,^*1 an advisory body to the Board of Directors of Fuji Oil Holdings Inc., deliberates on and monitors the Group’s response to environmental and social issues including climate change and human rights, and recommends and reports the results to the Board. Chaired by the President and CEO, the committee is composed of chief officers with voting rights, other executive officers, heads of each business division, outside directors, and the ESG advisor, and meets at least twice a year. The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) oversees initiatives for the material ESG issue^*2 of Sustainable Procurement.
Under this committee, the Subcommittee on Group Significant Risks discusses and manages Group-wide risks and opportunities across the supply chain, and reports the results to the Management Committee Meeting and Board of Directors for approval at least once a year.

• *1 Governance, Strategy, Metrics and Targets, Risk Management > Governance

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/sustainability_management/

• *2 Governance, Strategy, Metrics and Targets, Risk Management > Strategy, metrics and targets

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/sustainability_management/

Collaboration with our suppliers is essential to resolving the social issues involving the Group. We set our vision in the Fuji Oil Group Management Philosophy^* as “Together with our stakeholders, we will co-create a sustainable future for food, based on plant-based ingredients that are both delicious and healthy.” A sustainable supply chain is essential to achieve this vision. We foster relationships of trust with suppliers to address environmental and social issues in the supply chain, and engage in environmental conservation, respect for human rights, fair business practices, risk management and other initiatives with the aim of achieving sustainable growth for all three parties: suppliers, the Group and society.

• * https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/about/constitution/

Engagement with suppliers

Group-wide engagement with suppliers

Suppliers are our Group’s key partners in creating a sustainable society. Through co-creation with our suppliers, we aim for sustainable growth of all three parties: suppliers, the Group, and society. This approach is also stipulated in the Fuji Oil Group Supplier Code of Conduct formulated in April 2021. We ask our suppliers in all countries and regions where we do business to comply with the Code and follow other applicable procurement policies of the Group. At the end of January 2024, we received the signatures of 70% of our suppliers. Going forward, the Group will continue to walk in step with suppliers who have agreed to work with us toward realizing a sustainable society. On the other hand, we will keep reaching out to suppliers who have not yet declared their alignment.

Engagement with suppliers in Japan

Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. conducted a survey in FY2022 for suppliers in Japan, in order to check whether the products and services delivered by each company considers compliance, human rights, and the environment, and whether they are produced in a way that ensures a clear line of responsibility in line with the third edition of the CSR Procurement Guidelines (revised in November 2021). The survey results revealed large variations among suppliers in their response levels to environmental and social issues. In light of this, we updated our annual supplier evaluation table to a new format in FY2023. We added perspectives from risk management and environmental considerations, which had notably large differences in response levels, to the usual evaluation of quality, price, and delivery time, and used the new table to evaluate around 100 key suppliers. Moving forward, we will continue evaluating suppliers from a sustainability perspective.
We also held an appreciation gathering for approximately 100 of our key suppliers in Japan. The gathering provided an opportunity to engage more with our suppliers. In addition to expressing our constant gratitude, we shared the Group’s efforts to address Japan’s logistics problem in 2024 caused by truck driver shortages and asked for their support in creating an efficient and sustainable purchasing and logistics system that takes people and the environment into consideration.

President Tatsuji Omori of Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. giving a speech at the 2023 appreciation gathering

Commitments to sustainable procurementGRI：408-1

The Fuji Oil Group set medium- to long-term goals and KPIs for the sustainable procurement of palm oil and cocoa in June 2020, and of soybeans and shea kernels in June 2021.

Sustainable procurement information by raw material

Follow the links below to learn more about our Group’s sustainable procurement initiatives for our main raw materials — palm oil, cocoa, and soybeans — and our strategic raw material, shea kernels.

• Sustainable Procurement of Palm Oil

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/palm_oil/

• Sustainable Procurement of Cocoa

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/cocoa/

• Sustainable Procurement of Soybeans

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/soy/

• Sustainable Procurement of Shea Kernels

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/shea_kernel/