Tesco has been accused of ducking shareholder questions on a whistleblower memo which claims leading food companies have been misleading investors over the threat of climate change to the supply chain.
At its AGM last month the supermarket was questioned by investor campaign group ShareAction on its plans to publish its response to the bombshell memo to shareholders.
ShareAction said this week it was “disappointed” that despite giving a lengthy response about its sustainability strategy, the retailer “did not address directly” when investors would see its response to the memo.
The body also raised the memo at the recent Sainsbury’s AGM and said the supermarket had confirmed its board had seen and debated the memo and confirmed they would share it with their corporate responsibility and sustainability team. Sainsbury’s confirmed it was aware of the risks raised in the memo and said it was taking steps such as by helping farmers to invest in capital projects.
The memo, which was first reported by The Grocer in April, was written by a group called Inside Track x Food, made up of around 20 executives who hold or have held senior roles in major UK food manufacturers, retailers and associated businesses.
It claimed the UK food industry had “reached a moment of threat to food security like none other we have seen” and warns it is on course for inevitable food shortages, a series of supply chain sourcing collapses and business failures.
It warns food businesses are woefully unprepared for challenges including soil degradation, extreme weather events, global heating and water scarcity and that yield, quality and predictability of food supply are all at severe risk.
Penny Fowler, head of corporate climate campaigns & interim co-director of corporate engagement at ShareAction, said: “We have continued to attend the annual general meetings of food companies such as retailers Tesco and Sainsbury’s to question them on their food supply chain resilience.
“As highlighted in the memo published by Inside Track, companies have not been transparent enough with shareholders about the scale of the risk to supply chains in the face of climate change, and their risk management plans are wholly inadequate.
“ShareAction would like to see food producers, manufacturers and retailers demonstrate to investors that they are taking the concerns raised in the memo seriously and are ready to step up when it comes it resilience planning and food supply chain management.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “As the UK’s leading food retailer, we play a critical role in creating a more resilient and sustainable food system. We’re making strong progress on our sustainability commitments including reducing the carbon footprint of our own operations, strengthening our supply chain resilience, increasing healthy food sales and reducing food waste.
“Security of supply is integral to the long-term viability of our business. We have identified this issue and climate change among our most significant risks and set out our approach to managing them, including our key responses and controls, in our Annual Report. Through our comprehensive annual sustainability reporting we share our approach, progress and performance against our sustainability commitments.”
Sainsbury’s has been asked to comment.
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