Case study: How Minor promotes sustainability among its suppliers
Minor is a global company focused on three core businesses: hospitality, restaurants and lifestyle brands distribution, operating in 65 markets across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe, North and South America. To achieve its aspiration to continually competing on the world stage successfully, Minor is committed to creating a sustainable business by establishing long-term and sustainable partnerships with its partners, including its suppliers. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2019 Sustainability Report by Minor published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Minor audits and monitors the sustainability performance of identified high-risk suppliers against relevant local regulations, to ensure their continual improvement. In order to promote sustainability among its suppliers Minor took action to:
- uplift its supply chain management (SCM) practice
- conduct supplier audits
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Minor has identified;
- How Minor proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Minor to promote sustainability among its suppliers
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2019 Sustainability Report Minor identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, food and service safety, customer relationship management, good corporate governance and anti-corruption. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Minor.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Minor engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics Minor engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Customers
| · Face-to-face interactions · Customers engagement surveys, calls to customers support centres, emails to customers contact points · Interactions and feedback through social media, mobile applications and live chats · Monthly market research surveys · Monthly and quarterly brand surveys and audits · Dialogues, networking sessions and company visits · Events, exhibitions and fairs |
| Employees | · Annual employee engagement surveys, performance appraisals, and individual development plans · Regular dialogues and engagement sessions: “Appreciation Week” in hotels, “Afternoon Tea Session” with CEO for new Minor Hotels employees, manager meetings and conferences, weekly breakfast, annual staff parties, Townhalls · Regular webinars, trainings and site visits · Regular newsletters and intranet updates · Regular department meetings, company activities and events · Internal channels for employee complaints and whistle blowing · Student internship programmes and Student Satisfaction Survey for student interns · CSR and sustainability – related activities for fostering social responsibility mindset |
| Shareholders, Investors, and Creditors | · Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) · Regular Investor Relations events, site visits, and road shows · Quarterly and other scheduled analyst meetings · Meetings and dialogues with financial institutions and bondholders on financial needs and business status · Regular press releases website and shareholder email updates |
| Business Partners
| · Regular meetings · Bi-monthly Update by GM to franchisees · Quarterly regional meetings with franchisees · Annual (domestic & international) Franchise Conferences · Company events, CSR activities, sustainability project, annual survey · Conferences and meetings with brand principals · CEO and senior management communications with hotel owners, joint venture partners and other business partners · Hotel development team interactions and conferences for hotel owners · Annual Minor Awards event |
| Suppliers | · Regular meetings and site visits/audits · Regular supplier training programmes and engagement activities · Annual Supplier Conference · Continuous supplier surveys |
| Communities
| · Regular site visits and meetings with community leaders · Engage with community members through job offering/ sourcing and other community development activities · Member of municipal or community committee |
| Media
| · Press releases, interviews and meet-the-press events · Integrated communication approach both offline and online media |
| Government | · Regular ministry meetings and government events including on-site visits · Committee member of government-initiated projects · Executives’ participation in government seminars as speakers or lecturers · Participle in industry or location – based associations which communicates to different government units |
| Non-Governmental Organisations | · Regular NGO visits, workshops, seminars, partnership meetings, emails and other correspondences |
What actions were taken by Minor to promote sustainability among its suppliers?
In its 2019 Sustainability Report Minor reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:
- Uplifting the supply chain management (SCM) practice
- Minor continues its efforts to uplift its supply chain management (SCM) practice by enhancing Minor Food and Minor Hotels SCM teams’ knowledge in sustainable supply chain. In 2019, Minor invited speakers from reputable peer companies to share practices on value chain traceability and non-tier 1 supplier management. A workshop was arranged for 33 Thai SCM staff who were involved in procurement, food safety and quality audit and Corporate Sustainability staff who oversaw sustainability audit. Minor Food’s supply chain and project management teams organised the Partners Conference, which was attended by 468 suppliers and contractors. The primary objective of the conference was to share Minor Food’s business direction and its implication for sustainable partnership. The conference highlighted the key actions to be implemented in SCM and project management functions and concluded with Minor Food Partner Awards celebration.
- Conducting supplier audits
- In 2019, Minor’s SCM and Corporate Sustainability team prioritised Thailand local Tier 1 food & packaging suppliers by Minor’s spending, criticality to its business, and substitution availability. They selected the top 18% of this group to be assessed on sustainability risk. Only two suppliers were initially identified as high-risk suppliers. However, after discussions with the SCM team, the Corporate Sustainability team embarked upon on-site audits of 23 high-risk and medium-risk suppliers and 2 low-risk suppliers to ensure their compliance to local environmental, occupational health and safety, and human rights regulations. Minor also undertook the second-year follow-up audits on 22 of 34 critical suppliers. The audits of the remaining critical suppliers were postponed to early 2020 due to suppliers’ unavailability. All audited suppliers with identified gaps have corrective action plans with an appropriate timeframe.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria
2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken
3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria
4) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken
Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.8
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Targets: 16.1
Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.8
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Targets: 16.1
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Minor, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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