To promote efforts to maintain a sustainable supply chain for all of Nichirei Group, the Group established the CSR Management discussion meeting in FY2017. During this meeting, the Group’s common basic policy is examined, issues being faced and efforts being made by each operating company are shared, and so on. The meeting is held six or more times per year, and the results of the discussions are reported to the Board of Directors and the management conference, providing support for operating companies’ efforts to maintain a sustainable supply chain. The Nichirei Group Sustainable Supply Chain Policy was also established through the CSR Management discussion meeting. The Group procures products and services in accordance with the policy and asks suppliers to also assent to and comply with it.

Supply chain Meeting Launched

Since 2019, in accordance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the United Nations Global Compact, the Nichirei Group has been promoting the understanding of, and working toward attaining, the Nichirei Group Sustainable Supply Chain Policy and ensuring that our supply chain business partners are in step with the Group’s CSR procurement activities.
In FY2021 (ending in March 2021), we launched a Supply Chain Meeting to enable Group companies to participate in formulating Group CSR procurement guidelines, as well as to share with us and examine issues regarding the addressing of human rights due diligence.
In addition to Nichirei Foods having joined the July 2019 Sedex* London conference, the Group is engaged in ethical and responsible business practices throughout our global supply chain.

Nichirei Foods conducts quality assurance audits in the form of factory inspections on each factory of contracted producers about once every two years. As part of this it confirms the implementation status of its Sustainable Supply Chain Policy.
In regard to environmental education within the Group, as part of its Training for New Managers, employees learn about sustainable raw ingredients as well as about the latest trends in Japan and overseas and issues faced by the Nichirei Group. In addition, the following goals have been set as a Group initiative.

• *Supplier Ethical Data Exchange, a non-profit organization established in the United Kingdom in 2004 to provide a platform for managing and sharing corporate ethical information with the aim of realizing responsible business practices in supply chains.

・ Procure materials produced or caught in consideration of sustainable utilization and their processed products.
・ Build a recycling system in collaboration with business partners and local communities to make full use of resources.

Mauritanian potted octopi are one of the quality materials used at Nichirei Fresh. For more than 40 years, the company has been working with locals to catch octopi using pots, allowing it to provide high-quality octopus ingredients. This technique is less likely to damage fishing areas and overfishing. The group is working hard to develop sustainable fishing practices by complying with no-fishing periods and no-fishing standards by, for example, using both Brazilian and Mexican wild shrimp.
In addition to constantly offering a reliable supply of safe and secure foods, Nichirei Fresh Inc. will continue to develop and procure quality materials as it focuses on sustainable resources, as well as the importance of having a sustainable environment and society.

Since 2006, Nichirei Fresh has been engaged in the Forest of Life Project*1 nature conservation activities involving sustainable black tiger prawn farming and mangrove tree planting in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
These activities were extended to whiteleg shrimp ponds in Sumatra, Indonesia, and obtained Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification*2 in 2018. From 2020, mangrove planting will begin in earnest, with plans to plant about 280,000 trees.
In addition, we are gradually increasing the handling of marine products certified*3 by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and, June 2019, we have been handling 17 fish species of marine products. In the years ahead, we plan to increase the variety of sustainable marine products we handle.

• *1Forest of Life Project： https://www.nichireifresh.co.jp/inochinomori/
• *2ASC certification requires that marine products used have been cultivated in a sustainable manner.
• *3MSC certification requires that wild seafood used has been caught using methods that do not deplete the natural supply.

Antibiotic-free Chicken

https://www.nichireifresh.co.jp/product/livestock/detail/?id=376(Japanese only)

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.