Responsibility at Strauss

• You are our #stakeholders. You represent diverse interests and perspectives. @StraussGroup, we value your views.

You are our stakeholders. You represent diverse interests and perspectives. We have developed our responsible business approach because we think it’s the right thing to do, but also because you have told us that it is what you expect from us. Stakeholders are defined as individuals or groups upon which we and our business activities have an impact, and who have an impact on our business, through the way you interact with us, whether it be to purchase a Strauss product, make a call to our help-center, or tell your friends that Strauss is a great place to work.

We engage you, our diverse stakeholder groups in different ways. In the various sections of this report, we describe our key processes of dialog with consumers, customers, employees and suppliers, as these groups influence the way we work, as we, in turn, influence their lives.  In addition to these ongoing interactions, we initiate targeted dialog, from time to time, with additional external stakeholders, in order to obtain a more rounded perspective of stakeholder expectations. We also maintain memberships and involvement with industry and trade associations, to advance the food and beverage industry in a sustainable way.

Stakeholder Communications

The importance of a structured and comprehensive approach to communications cannot be underestimated. Communications is not something that happens entirely randomly. Over the years, we have created a professional communications department which operates at corporate level to ensure that we are transparent about the things you, our external stakeholders and our employees, want to hear from us, and to ensure that we make it easy for you to engage us in conversation, wherever you are. We have developed a range of communication channels which enable you to connect with us in person, through our various internet and social media platforms, and through our service call-centers. Headed by a Vice President for Corporate Communications, who leads the development of our communications policy and effective communications platforms, we are committed to ensuring systematic, authentic and transparent information for stakeholders and to hearing and responding to your queries and feedback.

Dialog with Employees

Communications begins at home, and we understand the importance of ensuring our employees, first and foremost, have the opportunity to understand, share, discuss and take an active part in our daily life at Strauss. During the past year, we have placed specific emphasis on deepening conversation with our employees and being responsive to their views. During the year, especially in the light of social unrest in our home market, Israel, we embarked upon a program of half-yearly open-discussion round table dialogs  in each of our factories, attended by our most senior executives, to ensure that all our employees have the opportunity to make their voices heard. You can read more about this in the section about Engaging Employees in this report.

Stakeholder Dialog Roundtable 2012

In 2012, we conducted a roundtable meeting attended by 12 representatives of non-profit, academic and business organizations, to help us hear you through them. Each individual participant was invited to the roundtable discussion in order to offer what we felt would be a representative view of thousands more individuals, with whom they are engage through their organizational, social and environmental activities. In the meeting, we invited participants to talk freely about the issues they felt were of most importance to them, and why, as stakeholders and representatives of large groups in our society.  Following a free-flowing discussion, participants ranked a list of over 25 separate issues we had identified as potentially important to you, and to our sustainable business. The result was this list, in the order ranked by stakeholders:

1. Contributing to economic development and the wellbeing of society through core business activities as well as community involvement and philanthropy in a way which supports long-term change and not just one-time charity.
2. Reducing the consumption of resources in our manufacturing and logistics processes.
3. Delivering variety in our product offering, taking into account the preferences and needs of different consumer groups with special needs.
4. Supplier selection and leveraging our influence to drive responsible practices throughout the supply chain.
5. Clear and accurate product labeling in a way which consumers can understand.

• Our #stakeholder roundtable in Israel at @StraussGroup confirmed we should contribute to economic development through our core business #CSR

All these issues, and a range of other topics which were raised at the meeting, were reviewed by our management and have helped inform our ongoing approach and our reporting content. You will find our perspectives and performance in relation to these issues in the following pages of this report.

Memberships and Affiliations 

• @StraussGroup is committed to upholding the principles of the United Nations Global Compact #UNGC

By virtue of our Israeli home base, and strong roots in Israel, we naturally maintain a range of affiliations in this country. The following are the key affiliations:

		Maala - Business for Social Responsibility: Maala is a not-for-profit organization which aims to advance sustainable business practices in Israel and publishes an annual corporate social responsibility ranking of Israeli companies. Strauss Group has participated in this annual ranking since its inception and in 2013, achieved the highest possible ranking, Platinum Plus. Strauss Group Chairperson, Ofra Strauss completed a three year term as Chair of Maala at the end of 2013. www.maala.org.il
		The Manufacturers’ Association of Israel: The Manufacturers’ Association is a leading force in the Israeli economy and industry, representing all industrial sectors in the local and international markets. Strauss takes an active part in supporting the Association and its sector-specific Food Industries Association for the benefit of the entire food sector in Israel, as well as its Business Forum on Corruption and Bribery. www.industry.org.il/eng
		Transparency International (TI) Israel: Transparency International is a global movement that works to eliminate corruption in government, business and civil society. TI Israel is one of the organizations’ national chapters, and works in collaboration with the business sector, the public sector, and the non-profit sector to change existing norms and reinforce public awareness of the importance of transparency and ethics. Strauss supports the efforts of the organization, working together to promote transparency, ethics and responsibility. www.transparency.org
		Access Israel: Access Israel is a non-profit organization that works to promote accessibility for people with various disabilities, and support their integration into society. Strauss Israel is a member of the Business Accessibility Forum, which includes over 35 Israeli companies. This membership constitutes a commitment to promote accessibility within the organization and through its services and products. www.aisrael.org
		The Israeli Forum for Diversity Hiring: This is a non-profit organization advancing the integration of disadvantaged populations into the workplace in Israel, established by the Joint Distribution Committee of Israel. In line with its diversity and inclusion strategy, Strauss supports this organization and is an active member of the Forum. www.diversityisrael.org.il