Foodservices company Sodexo UK & Ireland has unveiled its net-zero supply chain engagement strategy.
Starting from January 2030, the company will only work with suppliers who demonstrate tangible progress through published reporting.
The company currently works with more than 4,000 supply partners, spending more than £800m annually.
Sodexo notified its supply partners about the net-zero supply chain engagement strategy and roadmap in March 2023.
It also started working with a number of its suppliers to support them in formalising and documenting expectations to reduce carbon emissions.
The initiative is part of Sodexo's larger sustainability initiative, which it launched in 2010 as part of its plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.
Sodexo was one of the first companies to have its UK and Ireland net-zero 2040 target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The foodservice company has also set some new milestones on its roadmap, which include evaluating the criteria of all tenders to include a minimum of 10% social value weighting from January next year.
Sodexo has also set a requirement for suppliers representing 75% of its supply chain emissions to set their net-zero science-based targets validated by the SBTi by September 2025.
Suppliers representing 90% of Sodexo’s supply chain emissions must set their own SBTi-validated net-zero targets by September 2027.
Sodexo, UK & Ireland Supply Chain head Aoife Wycherley said: “When we made our commitment to net zero by 2040, we committed to delivering on something that is truly meaningful and would have real impact.
“We have always known that this is not going to be easy. It will be hugely complex and will require an enormous collective effort throughout our entire value chain. We are so proud of the extensive and diverse supply chain we have built – we genuinely work with some incredible businesses, big and small.
“Their response to this challenge and to our offer of mentoring and other support has been positive and we feel confident that this roadmap will deliver ever more impactful reductions in emissions.”
