In late 2018, Vitasoy conducted a materiality assessment to understand the perspectives of internal and external stakeholders on key environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and to assess Vitasoy’s corporate reputation in sustainability.
This research offered an opportunity to engage stakeholders in Mainland China, Hong Kong, China and Australia while the assessment results provided insights to help formulate Vitasoy’s sustainability strategy in the years ahead.
The process involved both employees of different levels and external stakeholders such as suppliers, customers, investors, academics, media, NGOs, corporate peers, and consultants/research think tanks. We identified them based on their expertise and working relationships with the Group. They were invited to complete an online quantitative survey based on a list of environmental, social and governance issues shortlisted by Vitasoy’s Sustainability Committee.
Based on the Vitasoy Sustainability Framework, we selected relevant sustainability topics, established material topics across the food and beverage industry and global reporting guidelines and standards.
Five internal interviews were conducted with Vitasoy’s Sustainability Committee members to gauge their perceptions of our sustainability efforts and reviewed the draft list of relevant topics with the sustainability team to create a list of 25 top material issues.
A 10-minute online survey was carried out with 327 stakeholders from Hong Kong SAR, China, Macau and Mainland China, including 171 external participants and 156 employees, to prioritise Vitasoy’s material issues, assess performance on sustainability and benchmark against peers.
Four interviews with Vitasoy’s senior executives and 18 interviews with external stakeholders were conducted to gain additional insight on key material issues as well as risks and opportunities for Vitasoy’s sustainability strategy.
The key output of this assessment process is the materiality matrix which prioritised ESG issues against two aspects: “Importance to stakeholders” and “Impact on business success.”
To see more detail, please visit our site on a larger screen