Corporate Responsibility Report

2/18/2011 12:00 AM

Atria engages in dialogue on responsibility

Conducting operations in a responsible manner and discussing them openly has become a key challenge for the food industry. As Finland’s leading meat processing company and a leading food industry Group in Scandinavia, Russia and Estonia, Atria is engaging in increasingly active dialogue with its stakeholders on matters of responsibility. As part of this dialogue, Atria has now published its first stand-alone Corporate Responsibility Report. Essential information in compliance with international convention

The Corporate Responsibility Report contains information that matters to Atria’s stakeholders. Atria’s three key stakeholder groups are consumers, customers and employees, and the company has gathered information on their special interests through surveys and day-to-day contacts and communication.

Atria bases its reporting work on the international Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. GRI is an international organisation which develops sustainability reporting guidelines. GRI strives to promote the reporting of reliable information in a clear and comparable format. In compliance with the guidelines, Atria addresses the sustainability of its operations from the financial, social and environmental perspective. Atria has selected from the GRI guidelines the indicators and other matters which interest its stakeholders in view of its operations.

The measurement and reporting of sustainability issues varies greatly in Atria’s operating countries, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and Estonia. It is challenging, for example, to present Group-level figures on the environmental impacts of operations, and the report at hand provides more extensive information on Atria Finland than on other markets. Atria Finland measures its environmental impacts in terms of energy and water consumption, wastewater load, landfill waste and packaging material management.

Responsibility promoted on seven fronts

Atria’s first Corporate Responsibility Report is part of the Atria’s Handprint Programme approved by the Group in spring 2010. It is an umbrella for the principles, practices and results of Atria’s sustainable operations and strives to communicate them with optimal coverage to all stakeholders. In alignment with this programme, Atria published its Code of Conduct in autumn 2010.

“Atria strives to develop systematically to become a leading company in responsible food production in its operating markets. In Finland, for example, we have defined clear priorities that we focus on to continue to meet our stakeholders’ expectations in future. It is important for us to continue reducing the environmental impacts of our operations and to promote the well-being of production animals. Further areas of emphasis are the promotion of product safety and the healthiness and nutritional value of our products. Other priorities include ensuring the well-being and competence of our employees, improving the profitability of operations and increasing open dialogue with various stakeholder groups,” says Merja Leino, Group Vice President, Sustainability , Product Safety & Quality.

Until 2010 Atria reported its corporate responsibility issues as part of the annual report. The next stand-alone Corporate Responsibility Report will be published in June 2011.

For more information on Atria’s corporate responsibility issues please contact:
Merja Leino, Group Vice President, tel. +358 40 580 1210, merja.leino@atria.fi