Better Health for All

In 2025, 4% of revenue from UK Grocery Group businesses was derived from HFSS products subject to sales restrictions.

Regarding nutritional quality and food safety, all food and drink businesses operate quality management systems based on HACCP principles and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards. 95% of Tip Top retail products in Australia achieve a Health Star Rating of 3.5 or higher, and Tip Top meets 80% of the Australian Government’s Healthy Food Partnership nutrition targets for the bread category. Additionally, seven ABF brands are signatories to the UK Food and Drink Federation’s Action on Fibre pledge.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Associated British Foods plc reported a CEO pay ratio to median employee of 218:1.

The company also disclosed a mean gender pay gap of 25.60%, indicating that women earn approximately 74.4% of what men earn.

Honest & Fair Business

ABF operates a 'Speak Up Policy' with a telephone line and web reporting platform, managed by an independent provider.

This policy is communicated to all individuals working for the Group, including employees and third parties. In the year to June 30, 2025, 434 notifications were received , with 19% resolved , 55% investigated without action , and 26% remaining under investigation . Additionally, ABF has an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy with designated officers in each business. Monitoring systems are in place, including global risk assessments. Relevant employees complete e-learning courses at regular intervals , and employees in higher-risk roles receive regular face-to-face training. The company is also updating its policy to address the UK's new failure to prevent fraud offence.

Kind to Animals

As of 2025, the company's overall Group cage-free egg and egg ingredient sourcing is 26%.

However, British Sugar, Westmill Foods, Mauri ANZ, and grocery businesses in Europe (excluding UK and Ireland) achieved 100% cage-free sourcing in 2025. AB Agri has an Animal Testing Policy, updated in 2024, covering all business activities related to animal testing. This policy mandates an independent third-party expert reviewer to evaluate all trial protocols and justifications, with the authority to challenge and prevent approval of any trial until satisfied.

No War, No Weapons

No specific, concrete evidence was found in the provided articles to assess ABF.LSE against any of the 'No War, No Weapons' KPIs. The company's business is described as food, ingredients, and retail, with no explicit mention of defense, arms manufacturing, military contracts, or related activities. General statements about ESG oversight or group policies do not provide sufficient detail or specific data points to score the KPIs in this rubric, nor do they explicitly state the absence of such activities. In the year to 30 June 2025, 434 notifications were received.

19% were resolved. 55% were investigated as appropriate and required no action. 26% remain under investigation.

Planet-Friendly Business

The Group's Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 2.41 million tCO₂e in 2025, an 8% decrease from 2024.

Primark's Scope 3 emissions were 5.993 million tCO₂e in 2025, a 3% decrease from 2024. Multiple business units, including Twinings Ovaltine, AB World Foods, ABF Sugar, and Primark, have SBTi-validated targets aligned to the 1.5°C pathway, with near and long-term goals. In 2025, 54% of the Group's total energy consumed was derived from renewable sources. The Group achieved a 94% waste diversion rate in 2025, with sugar businesses reaching 98%. The company has formal no-deforestation policies for primary deforestation-linked commodities; AB Agri achieved 100% certification for palm oil and derivatives in 2024, and 94% for its soya products (excluding China) as of October 2025. Group-wide, 100% of palm-related ingredients were certified in 2024, with 73% covered by book and claim credits. The company provides Group-level TCFD reporting, and climate risks for Twinings Ovaltine were assessed using scenario analysis in line with TCFD guidelines in 2022.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The company launched a "Partnership for Progress" initiative in 2022, which involves over 50 local organizations globally.

In 2023, ABF contributed £5.3 million to community programs and charities, reaching 1 million beneficiaries. ABF's Illovo operations are stated to create valuable jobs and economic opportunities, and provide accommodation, healthcare, and educational assistance in rural communities. However, Associated British Foods, through its ownership of Illovo, has been linked in media reports to land conflicts in Mali, Zambia, and Malawi.

Safe & Smart Tech

No specific, quantifiable evidence was found in the provided article to assess ABF.LSE against the defined KPIs for the 'Safe & Smart Tech' ethical value. While the article mentions areas like cybersecurity investment, vulnerability management, regulatory compliance, and AI deployment, it does not provide the concrete metrics or outcomes required by the rubric's quantitative thresholds for scoring. Typical spend ranges for a multinational like ABF are 0.5-1.5% of IT budget allocated to security, with annual security budgets in absolute terms estimated at £8-20m depending on scale and transformation projects.

Measured outcomes include reduction in incident mean-time-to-detect (MTTD) from months to hours, and incident remediation time (MTTR) reduced by 40-60% after SIEM and managed detection deployments. Key focus areas: ERP security, retail POS protection, supplier portal access controls, and customer data privacy compliance (GDPR/EU, UK Data Protection Act). Data-breach fines under GDPR can reach up to €20m or 4% of global turnover, creating material downside risk for consumer-facing businesses and centralized IT platforms. Enhanced governance, transparency and data-privacy laws (UK Companies Act updates, EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, UK/EU/US data-protection regimes including GDPR and evolving AI governance) increase reporting burdens, board-level oversight and cyber/compliance costs. ABF has deployed machine learning for demand forecasting, dynamic pricing pilots, and automated invoice processing. ABF must produce expanded non-financial disclosures covering climate (Scope 1-3), human-rights due diligence and supply-chain metrics for thousands of SKUs. Data protection impact assessments, breach notification processes and cyber incident response.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

ABF's operations achieved a 92% waste diversion rate in 2025.

Twinings UK and Polish manufacturing sites reaching zero waste to landfill. In 2024, 88% of the Grocery Group's packaging materials were recyclable or recyclable where facilities exist. The company has made progress in reducing single-use plastics, with Twinings removing plastic wrap from 75% of its cartons and DON cutting plastic use by up to 50% in some packaging. Several product lines, including AB World Foods' PET bottles and Tip Top's bread bags, incorporate 30% post-consumer recycled content. ABF has implemented numerous waste reduction initiatives, such as Silver Spoon's investment cutting liquid sugar waste by 40% and using food co-products for animal feed, leading to a 3% decrease in total waste for Grocery businesses in 2025. Hazardous waste is managed through the use of ADFe additive in biogas facilities. The company has set ambitious waste reduction targets, aiming for 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging by 2030 and a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030. Circular design principles are integrated into Twinings Ovaltine's new product development process for packaging. Tip Top has also developed a Food Waste Action Plan to educate customers on reducing waste in their homes.