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Owned by
General Mills
- Score
- 40%
- Some progress
How are the scores formed?
We assessed publicly available information on the policies and commitments of the 'Big 10' food companies towards the sourcing of agricultural commodities from developing countries. The Scorecard looks at seven themes, weighing each theme equally. The index tackles some cutting edge issues that will require rigorous debate and dialogue between companies, civil society and industry experts. Find out more...
What do the scores mean?
- 8 - 10Good
- 6 - 7Fair
- 4 - 5Some progress
- 2 - 3Poor
- 0 - 1Very poor
Land
Score 2General Mills needs to step up in a big way. It recognizes ‘Free, Prior, and Informed Consent’ in its palm oil policy, but that’s not enough to ensure that it and its suppliers aren’t pushing people off their land.
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Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
Women
Score 3General Mills recently signed on to the UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles, which is a good step forward. For many years the company has been implementing projects to promote women producers as well as intentionally sourcing from women farmers but in every other category, the company falls short.
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Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
Farmers
Score 3The company shows a better understanding of the situation of small-scale farmers in its supply chain and it runs projects to support farmers. However, General Mills still fails to identify the numbers of small-scale farmers it sources from – and doesn’t ask suppliers to protect farmers’ rights
See how other companies score on Farmers
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Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
Workers
Score 3General Mills has a slow but steady improvement on worker issues. The company still needs to establish a constructive and ongoing dialogue with its workers’ union.
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Make a change
Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
Climate
Score 6General Mills made a significant leap in its policies on climate change in 2014 and 2015. As one of the first food and beverage companies in the world, they have set a target to reduce emissions from agriculture and engage in meaningful calls for climate action through the company’s advocacy efforts.
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Make a change
Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
Transparency
Score 5General Mills has been making consistent improvements in its transparency. It provides more information on suppliers and sourcing countries of certain key commodities while starting to disclose its sourcing volumes.
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Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
Water
Score 6General Mills is refreshingly honest about the water it uses. The company has even released its assessments of key watersheds - the first company we have seen to do so. It however has yet to set a target for reduction of water use right through its supply chain.
See how other companies score on Water
Make a change
Thank you for using your voice on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to nudge your favorite brands. As companies commit to improve their policies, we’ll update the scorecard so you can see how your actions are helping to push the ten biggest food and beverage companies to do better.
