Kerry Group - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Kerry Group is Lower Risk.

Kerry Group is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. Kerry Group implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. The company occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	Medium Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Kerry Group’s PGLE membership reflects its commitment to vet business partners based on LGBTQ+ policies (1)(2)(3). The company promotes divisive sex and gender policies. Its Supplier Code of Conduct requires international vendors to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policy (4). However, Kerry Group has not canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (5).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Kerry Group does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1). The company’s charitable giving focus area is “to help improve the health and nutrition of people around the world” (2).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Kerry Group requires its employees to take DEI training (1). The company appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its leadership composition. From its Sustainability Statement: “Through our ongoing talent processes, we evaluate
our leadership and capability pipelines with a diversity lens,
working to ensure that our talent pools are representative” (2). Kerry Group appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its business structure through the establishment of gender targets for its leadership composition. The company is seeking “to achiev[ing]
equal gender representation in senior management roles across Kerry’s global footprint by the end of 2030” (3). The company protects its employees against viewpoint discrimination (4).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Kerry Group’s former CEO, Oliver Kelly, signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace, strategize on DEI programs/initiatives with other signatories, and engage boards of directors when developing and evaluating DEI strategies (1)(2). The company’s PGLE membership reflects its commitment to provide “tools and resources for companies to advance and implement LGBTI inclusion globally” (3)(4)(5)(6). Kerry Group signed an open letter endorsing the Equality Act, a contentious proposal to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by adding sexual orientation and so-called gender identity as protected categories. The legislation would, among other implications, grant biological men access to women-only spaces such as sports teams and public restrooms, and compel healthcare providers to deliver sex-denying healthcare (7). The company is aligned with the Paris Agreement, which entails a commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (8). Kerry Group supports DEI within its business practices. From its Sustainability Statement: “Kerry’s commitment to DI&B underpins every aspect of our
organisation’s operations including our ambition to create
an inclusive environment based on equal treatment and
opportunities for all” (9). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its Sustainability Statement: “The double materiality assessment identifies Kerry’s most
relevant ESG topics and their related impacts, risks and
opportunities (IROs), at which we direct appropriate action
and resources, through our policies and programmes” (10).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Kerry Group’s PGLE membership reflects its commitment to “operationalize” company coverage of transgender surgery and treatment and the financial support of LGBTQ organizations (1)(2)(3)(4). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (5).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Kerry Group does not operate a PAC or report on its lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).