A fair, inclusive and diverse workforce

Recruitment and career development

We know that diversity of thought enriches teamwork and provides better business outcomes. We strive for inclusion and diversity and welcome people with various competencies and backgrounds to join our global team regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or other personal attributes. We’re committed to being non-discriminatory and recognise that we need to be proactive and continuously challenge our thinking and approach, such as through unconscious bias training and looking to others for inspiration.

We promote individualised development opportunities for our people, so every employee has the chance for personal and professional growth. These activities include training programmes to allow our people to broaden their skillsets. We also encourage internal secondments for personal and language development, cultural exchange and the opportunity to share business knowledge.

Gender equality

The gender balance across our workforce is almost equal, with 49% male and 51% female employees. We are actively working to find suitable measures to ensure this balance remains at a leadership level. Our work on gender equality aligns with SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

In 2016, we wanted to ensure that we had the right frameworks to guarantee gender equality. We created the AB Enzymes' Women's Business Forum, a quarterly conference for women representing the countries where we operate. The Forum provides our women space and opportunities to develop and inform the business. For example, providing leadership with practical guidance on returning to the office after remote working. Over the years, the Forum has spotlighted our maternity provision, how we support women back to work after children and, more recently, piloted a mentoring programme for women.

Human rights

Together with suppliers, we are working to build more equitable, ethical and sustainable supply chains focused on respecting human rights and labour rights.

We align our work on human rights with the internationally recognised framework of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). From sourcing raw materials through to the finished product, we aim to uphold labour and human rights throughout the entire process.

When any potential human rights issue arises, we investigate the matter thoroughly to identify the root cause. Investigations could involve engaging with NGOs, trade unions or local charities to help us obtain a comprehensive understanding of the situation. We always aim to put appropriate remediation in place to correct issues and mitigate the risk of recurrence.

Modern slavery

Modern slavery practices have no place in our business or our suppliers’ businesses. We adopt a zero-tolerance approach. We honour the commitments of our parent company, Associated British Foods plc (ABF), through the ABF Modern Slavery Statement and by adopting the ABF Supplier Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct asks our suppliers to adhere to ABF's principles, including zero-tolerance of all types of modern slavery-related issues. 

Modern slavery can occur in many forms, including forced labour, child labour, domestic servitude or human trafficking. Our e-learning programme raises awareness of modern slavery, highlighting the risks of forced labour and guides what people can do if they suspect it. Our senior leadership team, procurement staff, quality teams, and those in customer-facing roles have completed this essential training.