Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble!
That’s right, it’s that time of year again —the Battle of the Brands. Twice a year, Oxfam takes a look at publically available information on the agricultural sourcing policies of the top ten food and beverage companies. These are the same companies that make a large portion of what you buy every day. We assess how well the top 10 Food & Beverage companies are performing on our 7 themes: Transparency, Women, Workers, Farmers, Land, Water, and Climate.
Some companies have been floating like butterflies while others have been stinging like bees. Want to see how your favorite brands did? Check out the slideshow* below.
*Slideshow compares improvements from October 2014 to March 2015. Companies have been battling their rivals directly above them in the scorecard in an attempt to move up the rankings.
This battle has led to new rankings and new scores. Check out in more detail how their scores have improved in our interactive scorecard:
Read what the top ten food and beverage companies had to say about the latest Behind the Brands scorecard ratings here.
We have a clear champion in this battle, but who will win the title?
It’s exciting to watch these heavyweights battle for the number one spot, however it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done. One area that seems to be a major weak spot for the majority of the 10 companies is the lack of investment and support to farmers in their supply chain, with half of the Big 10 barely scoring a 2/10 on the farmers theme. That combined with growing climate change impacts affects not only the farmers, but the companies themselves. It’s a lose/lose situation as it stands now.
And while the majority of top ten Food & Beverage companies have committed to improvements around gender, climate land and others the challenge is following through and showing real change on the ground. We need to see action – for people and the planet. Together, we can keep the pressure on these companies to move them from policy to practice.