The food services and facilities management business was one of the first organisations to have its UK and Ireland net zero 2040 target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Sodexo UK and Ireland currently works with more than 4,000 supply partners, spending over £800m every year.
Around 70% of Sodexo’s supply chain in the UK and Ireland is made up of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs), most of which cannot be expected to have teams dedicated to sustainability or afford consultancy support.
Sodexo has introduced a two-year grace period for SMEs and VCSEs needing extra help to complete some of the requirements. Further milestones that Sodexo has set on its roadmap include:
- From January 2024, the evaluation criteria of all tenders to include a minimum of 10% Social Value Weighting.
- By September 2025, suppliers representing 75% of Sodexo’s supply chain emissions will need to have set their net zero science-based targets validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
- By September 2027, suppliers representing 90% of Sodexo’s supply chain emissions will need to have set their own SBTi-validated net zero targets.
- By January 2030, Sodexo will only partner with suppliers who can demonstrate tangible progress through published reporting.
Initial research conducted by Sodexo in November 2021 revealed that of 87 suppliers polled, 62% had already made a commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 or sooner, while 20% did not have a carbon reduction plan in place. The survey also revealed that the majority of its suppliers were at that time only measuring scopes 1 and 2 – with just 37% measuring all three scopes.
Aoife Wycherley, head of supply chain at Sodexo, UK & Ireland, said: “When we made our commitment to net zero by 2040, we committed to delivering on something that is truly meaningful and would have real impact.
“We have always known that this is not going to be easy, it will be hugely complex and will require an enormous collective effort throughout our entire value chain. We are so proud of the extensive and diverse supply chain we have built – we genuinely work with some incredible businesses, big and small.
“Their response to this challenge and to our offer of mentoring and other support has been positive and we feel confident that this roadmap will deliver ever more impactful reductions in emissions. Many of our suppliers have already told us they are passing this message down through their own supply chain, which over time has the potential to create a significant ripple effect.”