Materiality and Stakeholder Engagement

Additional Sustainability Resources Materiality and Stakeholder Engagement Assurance Statements

Sysco’s sustainability strategy is based on our 2018 materiality assessment, which identified the ESG topics that our stakeholders deemed to be most important and/or influential on their decisions.1 The company completed a materiality refresh in FY2022 to help ensure the matrix was fit for purpose and to better reflect the global enterprise.

Our Primary Stakeholders Associates Our 71,000 global associates bring Sysco’s strategic priorities to life and enable our company’s growth. We know that our associates and future talent care deeply about how we engage with communities, and our sustainability strategy has become a valuable tool in our recruiting and retention efforts. We engage with associates via Sysco Speaks (our companywide engagement survey), “The Dish” (our intranet site), Thrive (our new online learning platform), Sysco To-Go (internal app of news and resources for Sysco associates), social media and other channels. In FY2022, we continued to expand our engagement, communication and development efforts to support all our global associates.

Customers At Sysco, we put customers first. Their needs and expectations are foundational components of our sustainability priorities. We engage with customers through several channels—including sales consultant interactions, customer service surveys, online communications and strategic reviews—while maintaining an ongoing dialogue and partnership to help customers deliver quality and safe food options to their patrons.

Investors Earning the confidence and support of Sysco shareholders is essential to our continued success. We know that a growing segment of our investor base is interested in how we address social and environmental issues. We engage them in various ways, including through financial reports, annual shareholder meetings, investor conference presentations, CDP and other ratings disclosures and meetings with interested investors.

Regulators Complying with regulatory requirements and interacting with appropriate regulatory authorities are essential activities for our business. We regularly engage with entities such as the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as corresponding agencies in other jurisdictions where we operate.

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) We respect the role that NGOs play in moving the needle on change, and we partner with many, including the World Wildlife Fund, the Global Food Safety Initiative and the Center for Food Integrity. These partnerships help us better understand various environmental and social challenges, as well as the ways Sysco can contribute to solutions. Suppliers To deliver for our customers and advance our sustainability agency, it is critical that we collaborate closely with Sysco suppliers. We engage with suppliers through surveys and regular business reviews, as well as in a Joint Business Planning process with several strategic suppliers. We also partner with suppliers to advance our sustainability priorities, including through the IPM program, in which Sysco works with participating growers to implement sustainable agriculture practices.

Peers Engaging with industry participants helps us advance best practices and influence regulatory and legislative improvements. For instance, an important driver in our work is Sysco’s Animal Welfare Council, which brings together academic and industry professionals skilled in animal welfare to provide Sysco’s leaders with guidance on the design, development and implementation of animal welfare programs. Council members also offer perspectives on emerging issues and best practices, and the Council meets annually with the Sysco Quality Assurance and Sustainability teams to discuss animal welfare issues, including supplier performance. Another example is our work with the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF). Through BFFF, our U.K. team and European peers are working with WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) to reduce waste, develop sustainable products and use resources in an efficient way.