“Everyone who attended the session thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was very informative and thought provoking. Obtaining feedback in such a clear and simple manner will add tremendous value to our reporting process going forward. What we realised is that a culture of integrated thinking does exist within our business but the way we articulate this to our stakeholders requires more effort and thought. As we were at the tail-end of our 2020 reporting process when the session with Trialogue took place, there are a few recommendations that we are able to implement immediately but some recommendations will be taken into consideration during this next reporting cycle.” – Anthea Abraham, Group Corporate Affairs Manager
The Sea Harvest Group is a leading seafood, aquaculture, agri-processing and branded fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business with a global footprint. In 2020, Sea Harvest won the Fledgling/AltX category prize of the CGISA/JSE Integrated Reporting Awards. Trialogue was the sponsor of this award and offered a prize of an integrated sustainability assessment. Sea Harvest welcomed the additional expert insight that would enable them to identify gaps in reporting, as well as gaps in the business itself, with respect to integrated sustainability.
Trialogue developed the Integrated Sustainability ModelTM, built on five principles and 26 indicator-driven sub-principles to assist organisations with integrated thinking[1]. A reviewer examines integrated annual reports, available documentation and, in certain cases interviews relevant staff, and then evaluates the content against the Integrated Thinking Principles and their indicators. Each indicator is rated on a five-point scale according to the assessed level of company performance as evidenced by the content and/or interviews.
Sea Harvest engaged Trialogue to run the assessment using the Integrated Sustainability ModelTM assessment tool. Trialogue conducted a desktop review of Sea Harvest’s latest Integrated Annual Report and publicly available content on websites and social media channels. Sea Harvest scored above average ratings on three of the five pillars, leaving some room for improvement on the other two ratings. While acknowledging the areas with positive ratings, the assessment identified several actions that would provide greater transparency on the sustainability integration process. These included some expanded disclosure and clarifying of issues presented in the report. Trialogue presented the results, highlighting and framing the initiatives that would advance the integrated sustainability process. The presentation generated good conversation among the management team and suggested initiatives from the assessment were well received.
[1] Integrated thinking around sustainability is the “active consideration by an organisation of the relationships between its various operating and functional units and the capitals that the organisation uses or affects.” (International Integrated Reporting Council, The International <IR> Framework, 2)
