Business Ethics

Our Promise

We are committed to ethical business practices based on our strong corporate values.

Since our founding, our actions have been driven by the values we share and promote: efficiency through simplicity, a family-oriented environment, ownership and commitment, a hands-on approach and passion. We are committed to maintaining a high level of business integrity and we guide the everyday conduct of all employees, officers, and Board members through our Code of Ethics.

Code of Ethics and Compliance

At Saputo, we value our reputation for business integrity and strive to preserve the quality of our work environment. In line with our commitment to continuous improvement, our policies evolve to reflect best practices and the changing needs of our customers and the marketplace. Accordingly, our Code of Ethics, which guides us in our day-to-day operations, was reviewed to ensure its alignment with the standards and requirements of all our divisions, and to address key human rights issues important to our organization, such as freedom of association. The revised Code was rolled out in early FY21, with employees receiving appropriate communication and training on what we expect of them and the importance of ethical behaviour.

With a large number of facilities around the world, we have monitoring systems in place to comply with laws, regulations and industry standards. In FY21, we had no significant fines for non-compliance.

The confidentiality and privacy of our customers and employees as well as the protection of information systems are key principles in our Code of Ethics. We have also taken significant actions in the last few years to protect our organization against cyber attacks. These include:

Elevating our information security governance;
Investing significantly in people, security protocols and technology;
Embedding incident response in global crisis management; and
Building a culture of cybersecurity and raising employee awareness.

Our corporate governance initiatives ensure the highest levels of independence, disclosure and transparency. Among these initiatives, we've adopted an anonymous and confidential whistleblowing line hosted by a third party, an Incentive Compensation Clawback Policy, and a Shareholder Communication and Engagement Policy.

For more information on our corporate policies, please visit our Governance section.

Transparency

Transparency can only be achieved through open communications. At Saputo, we recognize the importance of accountability to our stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, customers, consumers, suppliers, partners, and authorities. We aim to communicate in a transparent and responsible manner on how we are achieving Our Promise.

We continued to make progress in increasing transparency and disclosure to our investors and other stakeholders. In FY2021, we continued to enhance the ESG governance disclosure included in our Annual Information Form and our Management Information Circular.