Our Sustainability journey - Famous Brands IAR 2023

As a food services business, we acknowledge our obligation to consider our practices to create sustainable products and reduce our waste and usage of resources.

Our sustainability achievements

All operations converted to cage-free eggs by 2022, ahead of the 2025 target.

We now generate 713MWh from solar plants (2022: 650MWh).

In 2023, we installed one new 33kWp solar plant on the new KwaZulu-Natal Distribution Centre.

Famous Brands is a signatory to the South Africa Food Loss and Waste Agreement.

The refrigeration system for the new KwaZulu-Natal Distribution Centre is waterless, saving approximate 2 400 kilolitres per year.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In 2020, we committed to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. We have selected the most relevant SDGs to our business and where we can make the biggest contribution. In 2022, management and the Social and Ethics Committee approved targets for each SDG. In 2023, we integrated these into our business targets and are reporting our progress against achieving these.

Goal	SDG target
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.	Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life. Famous Brands opportunity Strengthen opportunities given to women at all leadership levels, including the Board. Increase the percentage of women at junior, middle and senior management levels. Performance in 2023 We achieved our targets or came close to achieving these for female representation at junior (48%), middle (46%) and senior management (30%) levels. We currently have 30% representation of female directors on our Board, which is in line with our target. We encouraged female employees to participate in our development programmes that assist them to grow, perform and be promoted. These programmes have a 47% female participation rate, slightly ahead of our target of 46%.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.	Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. Target 8.6: By 2030, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training. Famous Brands opportunities Ensure pay work for equal work across the Group. Increase the support for Black-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs). Performance in 2023 All Famous Brands’ employees are remunerated according to their role in the correct percentile. An equal work for equal pay review is completed annually. Famous Brands promotes the hiring and promotion of disabled people, with the aim of achieving a 3% representation within our workforce. In 2023, we achieved a 1.3% representation, slightly above our target of 1.2%. We have initiatives, including the YES Programme, to increase the absorption of unemployed people into our organisation. To support South Africa’s economic development we: Spent R894 million on SMMEs. Spent R2.2 billion on more than 51% Black owned entities. Spent R1.7 billion on more than 30% Black women owned entities. Read more in our transformation report
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation	Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action following their respective capabilities. Famous Brands opportunities Become a more energy independent organisation that is taking steps to reduce its carbon emissions. Performance in 2023 We achieved our target of reducing our total CO2 tonnes equivalent emission by our South African operations to under 50 000 CO2 tonnes.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.	Target 12.1: Implement the ten-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries. Target 12.2: By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. Target 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. Famous Brands opportunity Decrease our carbon footprint by 25% by 2026. Position Famous Brands as a leader in implementing more environmentally friendly packaging. Remove all single-use plastic by 2026. Reduce our food waste in our Manufacturing division by 50% by 2030. Performance in 2023 We successfully reduced our overall carbon footprint through sustainable utilities practices and wastage reduction. Read more in our environmental report.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.	Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. Famous Brands opportunity Reduce our energy usage and carbon emissions by reducing our electricity, coal, gas and fuel usage. We will also reduce emissions related to water usage through water saving projects. Performance in 2023 While our overall carbon emissions declined slightly, our diesel usage increased due to load shedding. Our water consumption for 2023 increased from 363 906 kilolitres to 389 692 kilolitres due to increased production at Lambert’s Bay Food and a change in processes at the Famous Brands Cheese. Our target for 2023 was 331 533 kilolitres. We have projects planned for 2024 to recycle water and reduce water used in our cleaning practices.

Plastic waste reduction and recycling initiatives.

All Famous Brands brand packaging ranges are 100% recyclable¹, and work is underway to accelerate the conversion to biodegradable and compostable packaging where possible.

We regularly examine and adapt the brand packaging materials to align with best practice benchmarks. This includes considering bulk packaging rather than single packaging options and replacing plastic with more eco-friendly solutions.

In 2019, Famous Brands implemented a packaging initiative to provide better, more environmentally friendly packaging across the brands. These improvements have seen Famous Brand reduce plastic consumption by 108.9 tonnes per year. Further successes include:

Our Logistics division no longer stocks plastic straws.
All brands have removed single-use black plastic cutlery and replaced this with wooden cutlery that is recyclable, biodegradable and compostable.
All plastic straws were removed from the SA and UK restaurants and replaced with paper straws. This was implemented in 2019 and resulted in a plastic reduction of 80 tonnes per year.
In the Manufacturing division, we have stopped shrink-wrapping products, reducing plastic waste and eliminating electricity previously used.
All Leading Brands restaurants have removed polystyrene and now offer recyclable take away packaging.
Eliminated balloons in Debonairs Pizza, Fishaways, Wimpy SA and AME restaurants. Wimpy UK is in the process of removing balloons with the aim of eliminating these by December 2023.
In 2023, Wimpy removed the single-use plastic outer wrapping from their coffee biscuits.
Mugg & Bean discontinued their takeaway box with a plastic insert and replace this with a polylactic acid-lined cardboard box.
In October 2022, Fishaways and Wimpy replaced the plastic salad container with a polylactic acid liner container with a plastic window, removing 7.9 tonnes of plastic per year. This has resulted in a plastic reduction of four tonnes per annum.
The polyethylene-lined hot coffee cup changed to a polylactic acid-lined cup across all brands with the exception of Fego Caffé. These are eco-friendly as they are recyclable and biodegradable.

Our impact in numbers

Switching from plastic to paper straws in 2018 reduced our annual plastic waste by 80 tonnes per year.

Removing balloons from all restaurants in 2020 has reduced our latex waste by 20.4 tonnes per year. The removal of cups and sticks used in conjunction with balloons has reduced our plastic waste by 26.3 tonnes per year.

Replacing the plastic wrapping of toothpicks in 2020 with paper wrapping has reduced our cellophane waste by 3.1 tonnes per year.

Removing all shrink-wrapping for Retail sauce bottles in favour of recycled cardboard boxes in 2022, resulted in an average saving of 30.5 tonnes of shrink-wrap packaging per year.

In 2023, Wimpy removed single-use plastic wrapping from their biscuits, reducing our plastic usage by approximately 4 tonnes per year.

In 2023, we reformulated the Famous Brands refresher towel to reduce plastic by 38%. This will result in a potential plastic reduction of 17 tonnes per year.

¹	100% recyclable means that our products can return to the waste stream and be broken down and reused, contributing to the circular economy.

Future focus areas for 2024

Mugg & Bean continues to trial eco-friendly coffee lids and offers consumers a greater choice of lid.
All brands will replace the plastic stirrer plug with wooden stirrers, which are recyclable, biodegradable and compostable.
Steers will replace their milkshake plastic cup and domed lid with a paper cup and lid.

The successful completion of these projects will reduce the total plastic consumption in Famous Brands by an additional 323.4 tonnes per year.

Extended Producer Responsibility

In May 2021, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment introduced Section 18 Extended Producer Responsibility regulations as part of the Waste Act. These regulations aim to ensure that producers take greater responsibility for the lifecycle of their products, including post-consumption waste disposal. The aim is that more waste will be diverted from landfills, and recycling and other circular economy activities will be supported.

In 2022, the Group registered with several producer responsibility organisations that manage the Extended Producer Responsibility schemes for various packaging schemes and we were deemed 100% compliant with Section 18 requirements as legislated by the department.

In 2023, there were changes to the regulations stating that brand owners are responsible for submitting their own declarations. Due to this change, Famous Brands became non-compliant as we initially relied on Nampak and Consol to declare on our behalf. To ensure compliance, Famous Brands has registered with MetPac SA and The Glass Recycling Co. By registering with MetPac SA, The Glass Recycling Co and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as well as declaring our volumes and paying accordingly, Famous Brands is once again 100% compliant regarding the Section 18 Regulations.

South Africa Food Loss and Waste Agreement

Famous Brands became a core signatory to the South Africa Food Loss and Waste Agreement in 2021. This agreement was developed by the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. As a signatory, our commitments include the following:

Contribute to achieving the SDG target 12.3: “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses”.
Adopt the food utilisation hierarchy, which prioritises increased food utilisation and waste reduction, and redistributing edible, nutritious surplus food for human consumption and creating secondary markets for surplus food while considering food safety.
Confidentially report our annual quantities of food waste and quantities diverted to food surplus redistribution, according to the agreed reporting protocol. In 2023, Famous Brands submitted our food waste figures, which show that we have further reduced our food waste.

Our efforts are focused on the following:

Reducing food waste in our Manufacturing division by 50% by 2030.
Identifying food loss and waste arising from our operations and isolating the underlying causes.
Ensuring that food safety is maintained at every level.
Supporting our non-profit partner SA Harvest to redistribute edible surplus food to those in need.

We have an established partnership with the charitable organisation SA Harvest whose mission is to end hunger in South Africa. This relationship began during the pandemic when Famous Brands management worked closely with the organisation to re-distribute stock that our hibernated operations could not use. We continue to work with them and other non-profits to distribute food close to its expiry date.

Our food philosophy

We create food that is good for our consumers, employees, franchise partners, local communities and the environment. We believe in FOOD with thought.

We acknowledge the need to regularly assess our FOOD philosophy practices to see if they align with best practices. This means we will:

Frequently review and update our goals and timeframes.
Assess and respond to emerging health and wellness trends, sustainability and our communities.
Consider our stakeholders’ evolving interests and expectations.
Be accountable for our actions.

Responsible sourcing

Famous Brands only procures from reputable suppliers that have undergone our stringent vetting process. Most suppliers have service level agreements outlining expected quality and service standards, and we schedule site visits to ensure that suppliers continue to uphold our standards.

Local sourcing	Seafood	Cage-free eggs
We have placed significant emphasis on purchasing from local suppliers. Today, approximately 85% of food products purchased are from local suppliers.	All our seafood is sustainably sourced. We only purchase seafood from well-managed populations, where these species can handle current fishing pressure or are farmed in a manner that does not harm the environment.	All our brands only use cage-free eggs in their recipes.

Read more about our local beef project in our transformation report.

Enabling better food choices

When creating our menus, we consider the Department of Health’s objectives of lowering obesity and promoting healthy living. Our brands’ menus accommodate dietary needs, food allergies, intolerances, and lifestyle preferences.

Our Leading Brands’ menus have “Better for You” options, including vegetarian and vegan options. Our sugar-free sodas are priced lower than regular sodas. Steers allows consumers to swap bottled water for sweetened beverages. Fishaways promotes a variety of “Healthier for you” meals under 500 calories. Our bun and sauces recipes exclude eggs, which makes them allergen and vegan-friendly. Our TruFruit juice range was reformulated to reduce sugar below the sugar-tax threshold.

All Leading Brands have full kilojoule counts on their menus, while full nutritional guidelines, including allergens, are on our Leading Brands’ websites. Consumers have indicated that having kilojoule counts available is helpful and does guide their decision making.

Mugg & Bean partners with a chef to produce plant-based options

In 2023, Mugg & Bean has engaged one of South Africa’s top planted-based food experts and the author of the cookbook Veggielicious, Chef Mokgadi Itsweng, to work with our chefs to create exciting and healthy plant-based meals that are better for the planet. New menu items included Strawberry Hibiscus and Ginger Slush, Veg Rosti with Pea Pesto, Smashed Chickpea Mayo Open Sandwich, Spicy Beans on Toast and a Sorghum Nourish Bowl.