The Nichirei Group is working to build a sustainable supply chain. On April 1, 2022, the Group established the Nichirei Group Human Rights Policy, the Nichirei Group Sustainable Procurement Policy, the Nichirei Group Supplier Code of Conduct, and the Nichirei Group Supplier Guidelines. These polices are based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact as well as on The Nichirei Pledge, which is the Group’s basic sustainability policy. They also provide the foundation for “realizing sustainable food procurement and resource recycling,” one of the Group’s material matters. Going forward, we will continue to promote the Nichirei Group Supplier Code of Conduct and Guidelines. We will evaluate risk factors in the supply chain and work with suppliers to mitigate these risks in accordance with the potential impact on business.
We will work to build a sustainable supply chain by sharing values and building close relationships within the Group and with suppliers.

For the Nichirei Group, which is involved in the entire supply chain from procurement of materials to production, sales, distribution, processing and logistics, realizing sustainable procurement is one of crucial topics for management.
It is set as one of our Materiality, and progress is reported and discussed at the Group Sustainability Committee, an advisory body to the Board of Directors. We are working toward KPIs we set for each of the five Group material matters. The Group Sustainability Committee monitors overall measures, while specific measures are incorporated into the action plans of each division, operating company, and committee. Connecting Group targets with those of each operating company directly links the achievement of each company’s business plan to improvement of the Nichirei Group’s social and economic value.

The Nichirei Group is promoting sustainability initiatives in its supply chain, which is the foundation of its business. With reference to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, we recognize that our business activities could potentially have a negative impact on workers, human rights, the environment, bribery, consumers and corporate governance. We therefore take action to avoid and address potential negative impacts associated with our business, our supply chain and other business relationships.

Sustainable Palm Oil Procurement

Establishment of Sustainable Palm Oil Procurement Guidelines

The Nichirei Group supports the No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation (NDPE) commitments and partners with its suppliers to procure palm oil in a responsible manner. To do so, in April 2023 we established the Nichirei Group Sustainable Palm Oil Procurement Guidelines and formulated new Group material matter targets and associated KPIs.

Initiatives for Sustainable Palm Oil

In August 2018, the Group became a member of the non-profit organization Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which promotes the production and use of sustainable palm oil. We are advancing efforts to ensure that the palm oil used to make our products is from sustainable sources. Since 2018, Nichirei Foods’ factories (at consolidated subsidiaries in Japan and overseas) that use palm oil have been purchasing RSPO certified sustainable palm oil credits (via the book and claim method) corresponding to 100% of the palm oil they use.
We are making progress toward achieving a procurement rate for RSPO certified sustainable palm oil of 100% by 2030.

Membership profile page

https://rspo.org/members/7750

Sustainable Marine Product Procurement

Establishment of Sustainable Marine Product Procurement Guidelines

Marine products are fundamental resources in the Nichirei Group’s business. Problems identified in recent years include climate change, the impact on ecosystems from overfishing and bycatch, habitat destruction including deforestation for aquaculture, and fishery worker human rights violations. In April 2023, we established the Nichirei Group Sustainable Marine Product Procurement Guidelines to resolve issues related to sustainable marine products in the supply chain, with the aim of realizing a sustainable society in cooperation with suppliers and stakeholders. Concurrently, we established new KPIs for Group materiality goals.

Initiatives for MSC/ASC Certification

Since 2006, Nichirei Fresh Inc. has been involved in the "Inochi-no-Mori-Project"^*1, a natural environment protection activity on Kalimantan Island, Indonesia, through the sustainable black tiger prawn farming and mangrove tree planting. The company has also spread its activities to banamei shrimp aquaculture ponds in Sumatra, Indonesia, and obtained ASC certification^*2 in 2018. 280,000 mangrove trees have been planted since 2020. We are also gradually increasing our handling of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification^*3 marine products, and As of June 2023, we are handling 24 species of marine products. We will continue to increase our handling of sustainable marine products.

(As of June 2023)

Activities Initiated at Group Cafeterias to Encourage Sustainable Seafood Consumption

We have launched activities at Group company cafeterias, venues where employees regularly gather to eat, to raise awareness of the importance of making sure that sustainable sources of food are available to the next generation.Nichirei Fresh has obtained CoC certification* and the company cafeteria menu at its head office offered the ASC-certified shrimp and MSC-certified Japanese carpet shell it procures and sells.
In FY2024, we have implemented this intiative at employee cafeterias in the Kanto region, including the Company's Head Office cafeteria in Tokyo. We also intend to extend this intiative, putting the MSC-certified products and ASC-certified products on the menus, to other our cafeterias.

• * Chain of custody: A mechanism for managing processing and distribution to ensure certified marine products are separated from non-certified products

Product Name		Date	Venue	Menu	Image Photo
Vannamei Shrimp	1st	July 3, 2023	Nichirei Higashi-Ginza Building（Head Office: Tokyo）	ASC-certified shrimp and garlic curry
	2nd	September 11, 2023		ASC-certified shrimp stir fry
Vannamei Shrimp	3rd	September 27, 2023	Nichirei Tenma-bashi Building（Osaka）	・ASC-certified shrimp curry ・Shrimp and avocado salad
	5th	October 19, 2023	Nichirei Training Center（Tokyo）	Chili sauce with ASC-certified shrimp and egg
	6th	November 2, 2023	Nichirei Group Technology Development Center（Chiba）
	11th	April 9, 2024	Nichirei Training Center	Cream pasta with ASC-certified shrimp and asparagus
	14th	April 18, 2024	Nichirei Group Technology Development Center	Udon/Soba noodles with mixed ASC-certified shrimp tempura
	15th	May 13, 2024	Nichirei Tenma-bashi Building Kansai Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Nichirei Logistics Kansai Inc.	ASC-certified shrimp champon
	16th	May 21, 2024	Kyurei（Fukuoka）	ASC-certified shrimp doria
	17th	May 24, 2024 May 30, 2024	Daikoku DC, Kyokurei Inc. Honmoku DC, Kyokurei Inc.	Rice bowl with ASC-certified shrimp and vegetable tempura
	20th	June 19, 2024 June 20, 2024 June 21, 2024	Sendai DC, Nichirei Logistics Tohoku Inc. Sendai XD, Logistics Network Inc. Shiroishi Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc.	Tomato cream pasta with ASC-certified shrimp and spinach
	21th	June 25, 2024 June 26, 2024 June 28, 2024	Churei（Yamaguchi） Mori Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi No.2 Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc.	Fried ASC-certified shrimp and fava bean with mayonnaise sauce
Vannamei Shrimp	4th	October 13, 2023	Global Innovation Center（Saitama), Nichirei Biosciences Inc.	ASC-certified whole fried shrimp and hamburg steak
	9th	January 10-12, 2024	Funabashi Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi No.3 Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi DC, Logistics Network Inc.
	12th	April 11, 2024	Global Innovation Center	Rice bowl with ASC-certified whole shrimp tempura
	13th	April 17-19, 2024	Funabashi Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi No.3 Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi DC, Logistics Network Inc.
	18th	May 28, 2024	Nichirei Higashi-Ginza Building	ASC-certified soft shrimp burger
	19th	June 12, 2024	Funabashi Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi No.3 Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi DC, Logistics Network Inc. Global Innovation Center	Salt ramen noodles with ASC-certified whole grilled shrimp
Short Necked Clam	7th	December 1, 2023 (Anniversary of the founding)	1)Nichirei Higashi-Ginza Building 2)Global Innovation Center 3)Nichirei Tenma-bashi Building 4)Nichirei Group Technology Development Center	・MSC-certified Japanese carpet shell and yakuzen curry1 ・MSC-certified Japanese carpet shell soup curry2,6 ・MSC-certified Japanese carpet shell and vegetable curry3,4,5
	8th	December 8, 2023	5)Nichirei Training Center（Tokyo）
	10th	March 25-27, 2024	6)Funabashi Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi No.3 Plant, Nichirei Foods Inc. Funabashi DC, Logistics Network Inc.

Collaboration with WWF Indonesia and WWF Japan Promoting Biodiversity Conservation in North Kalimantan through the More Than Decade-long Forest of Life Project

In the province of North Kalimantan, on the Indonesian island of Borneo, the natural environment is facing destruction from the expansion of plantations, afforestation, and shrimp farming. The rapid increase in the number of shrimp farms in coastal areas has led to the successive felling of forests and mangroves, and the rapid environmental changes are threatening valuable wildlife species with extinction.
In 2006, responding to concerns over the loss of mangroves in North Kalimantan, Nichirei Fresh initiated the Forest of Life Project in cooperation with its local supplier, PT. Mustika Minanusa Aurora (MMA) and the city of Tarakan, on Tarakan Island. The project assists in planting efforts and biodiversity conservation, by selling shrimp cultivated traditionally without using formula feed or electricity, and donating a portion of the proceeds to MMA’s Mangrove Foundation. In partnership with WWF Indonesia and WWF Japan until June 2019, Nichirei Fresh also had promoted aquaculture improvement and forest conservation activities as part of the WWF North Kalimantan Sea and Forest Conservation Project. Over a 10-year period, trees have been planted across an area stretching 302 hectares in an effort to restore mangrove forests. This has resulted in an increase in wildlife, including small birds, crabs and small fish, and even proboscis monkeys introduced from outside the region have begun breeding naturally.

Conserving Biodiversity and Maintaining Sustainable Production: MSC Fisheries Certification at Clam Fishery

Regenerating Marine Habitats

In June 2022, Nichirei Fresh joined Fukuoka Uoichiba Co., Ltd. and the Amakusa Fisheries Cooperative in launching the Inochi-no-Umi-Project. This initiative focuses on regenerating Zostera beds, which are areas of the seabed where this type of marine eelgrass grows. The project is funded using a portion of sales of natural shiba shrimp caught in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture. Zostera beds are a spawning and nursery ground for marine life. They play an important role in the marine ecosystem. However, Zostera beds are declining in number each year, which impacts the habitat of marine life and causes water quality to deteriorate.
Nichirei Fresh will use the expertise and experience it has gained overseas to protect ecosystems in Japan that support seafood and the marine environment, and engage in sustainable procurement of marine products.

Sustainable Regional Agricultural and Livestock Cycle through Junwakei Chicken

In 2009, Nichirei Fresh launched a feed rice project in collaboration with the Japan Agricultural Cooperative in Iwate Prefecture and farmers from Karumai and Hirono in 2009, and in the 13 years since then the project has been implementing a sustainable regional agricultural and livestock cycle through the production of the Junwakei breed of chicken (a crossbreed of two native Japanese species). When the project was first launched, paddies for feed rice covered around 15 hectares. By FY2022, this area had expanded to around 249 hectares yielding a harvest of roughly 1,700 tons.
Manure from the poultry farm is made into organic fertilizer at an on-site high-speed manure processing plant.
This fertilizer is spread over the feed rice paddies that were previously fallow rice fields, providing nutrients for the soil. Rice harvested from these paddies is fed to Junwakei chickens as formula feed. Moreover, waste heat energy from the manure processing plant is used to heat the chicken coops.

Antibiotic-free Chicken

Antibiotic-free Chicken

Chemical agents, such as antibiotics and synthetic antibacterials, are used in general broiler chicken farming to treat diseases, prevent the spread of illnesses due to farming conducted in tight spaces, and promote growth.
Nichirei Fresh has been selling antibiotic-free chicken since 2004. While vaccinated, our poultry is not exposed to chemical agents, including antibiotics and synthetic antibacterials, that could contribute to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.* Instead, our poultry farming methods take full advantage of the innate immunocompetence of chickens.
Our farming technology takes into consideration the growing conditions and applies Nichirei Fresh’s proprietary expertise to poultry farming, resulting in chickens with higher natural immunocompetence and greater natural resistance to diseases. This is achieved through the use of such feed ingredients as lactic acid, other probiotics, and plant-based herbal medicines that help maintain the health of chickens and boost their immunity. Since the manure of chickens exposed to antibiotics affects soil bacteria and groundwater, the poultry farming methods used to produce antibiotic-free chicken also contribute to the natural cycles intrinsic to ecosystems.

Reliable Management System: Inspections to Ensure Use of Antibiotic-free Chicken

Nichirei Fresh is performing its own inspections to ensure that poultry is antibiotic free. These inspections roughly break down into verification of production processes and product inspections.
Personnel responsible for the inspections regularly visit production areas to verify that all production processes (from those in feed mills to those in breeding farms and processing factories) are being performed to the Company’s standards.
In addition, the Nichirei Quality Assurance Division’s Food Safety Research Center performs product inspections involving testing for antibiotic residue in special feed used in the production of antibiotic-free chicken and in final chicken products.
Nichirei Fresh ensures that quality control is adequate by inspecting all its processes, from the animal feed it uses to final product shipments.

Working with Suppliers

Questionnaire Survey and Progress with Major Suppliers

Supplier ESG Survey

In April 2022, we established the Nichirei Group Supplier Code of Conduct and Supplier Guidelines. In fiscal 2023, we asked suppliers in Japan to support the Supplier Code of Conduct and Supplier Guidelines. We also conducted our Supplier ESG Survey, asking for responses to a self-assessment questionnaire.
We received responses to the survey from 89% of our suppliers, and all suppliers who responded agreed to comply with the Supplier Code of Conduct and Supplier Guidelines. We are following up with the remaining 11% to obtain their responses to the survey. Based on the results of the survey, we communicated with several suppliers that gave us cause for concern about possible negative ESG impacts and confirmed that those concerns were not an issue.
We will expand the scope of future surveys to include overseas suppliers while deepening communication with suppliers in ways such as holding briefings to enhance their understanding of our sustainable procurement initiatives and Supplier Code of Conduct and Supplier Guidelines.

Sedex subscription and SMETA audits

Nichirei Foods joined Sedex, who provides a platform which is designed to manage and share corporate ethical information including social, human rights, and enviormental topics with the aim of realizing responsible business practices in supply chains, in July 2019. In October 2020, we established "Nichirei Foods Supplier CSR Guidelines", disseminated in five languages. Preparation for the audits began in FY2021, and in FY2022, we received SMETA audit* at 15 our own plants in Japan. In addition to our own plants, two major OEM suppliers also received SMETA audit.

Human Rights Due Diligence for Meat, Poultry and Marine Product Suppliers

We have launched human rights due diligence initiatives for meat, poultry and marine product suppliers, which account for the largest proportion of procurement volume in the Group’s business activities. We determine priorities based on importance of transactions and human rights risk by country and industry.

Information sharing and awareness raising with suppliers

We recognize the importance of sharing information and raising awareness with our suppliers in order to build constructive relationships with them and improve corporate value for both parties. For this reason, Nichirei Foods and Nichirei Fresh have been holding "Nichirei Foods Procurement Policy Briefings" and "Nichirei Fresh Supplier Briefings" for major suppliers since FY2023 to share our environmental and social policies and to raise awareness of environmental issues and so on.

Collaboration with suppliers

Nichirei do Brasil Agricola Ltda. provides contractors with acerola seedlings and cultivation technology, and the fruits that are the result are all purchased by Nichirei do Brasil Agricola, and contributes to the local society including the guidance for the farmers, employment and income.

Education for Sustainable Procurement

Study Sessions on Sustainability for Management

We are inviting experts to participate in study sessions on sustainability for management.

• *Target participants are Directors, Audit & Supervisory Board Members, Executive Officers (Outside directors, outside Audit & Supervisory Board members, operating company management members, and general managers may participate voluntarily.)

Training for persons in charge for raw material procurement

Offering e-learning sessions for employees

●FY2023

●FY2024