Better Health for All

Compass Group's subsidiary, Fresh & Ready Foods LLC, was linked to a multi-state *Listeria monocytogenes* outbreak in 2025, resulting in 10 hospitalizations and 1 death.

The company recalled ready-to-eat foods due to potential contamination. The FDA issued a warning letter to Fresh & Ready Foods LLC for serious violations of food safety regulations, including repeat observations from 2017. Despite this, Compass Group employs over 3,000 Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) who create nutrient-dense meals, provide free produce to cancer patients, and ensure safe experiences in cafeterias. Compass Group UK&I plans to update over 10,000 recipes and committed to a 20% decrease in sugar, with 93% of sites offering at least one healthy meal choice. The company's Global Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) was 2.27 in 2022, with 2,005 global lost time incidents, and the Food Safety Incident Rate (FSIR) was 0.14, with 849 food safety incidents. Compass Group advocates for a Real Living Wage with clients and offers salary-linked financial wellbeing products, including affordable loans and salary advances. The company supports vulnerable colleagues with emergency financial aid and grants through a 'Helping Hands' fund. A Health Equity Committee examines disparities, including racial inequities, and DEI initiatives are in place. Compass Group provides 24/7 medical and counselling support for colleagues in the UK & Ireland and trains line managers and mental health first aiders in multiple regions. The company introduced an enhanced well-being program through Headspace, offering self-paced exercises and one-on-one support to associates. RDNs use social media, teaching kitchens, and presentations to educate on nutrition and healthy habits, reaching over 50,000 viewers last year.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Compass Group PLC is a contract foodservice company, not a financial institution. The ethical value 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' is designed to assess companies involved in lending, insuring, moving, or storing money, and their impact on financial inclusion and economic opportunity through financial services. As Compass Group does not offer consumer lending or deposit services, nor does it operate as a financial institution, all KPIs related to financial products, fees, credit, and banking access are not applicable to its core business model.

While the Compass Group Foundation supports job creation and training for various groups, this is charitable activity and supplier empowerment, not direct provision of financial services or reinvestment in community finance as defined by the KPIs.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

In 2024, the company's median CEO to median employee pay ratio was 330:1.

For pay equity, the median gender pay gap in the UK was 8.2% in 2024, meaning women earned 91.8% of men's pay. The median ethnicity pay gap in the UK&I business was 0% in the same year.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

Suppliers manufacturing Compass bespoke products are audited every 12 months, and all approved suppliers are subject to unannounced spot checks.

All prospective suppliers are required to complete a supplier evaluation questionnaire and submit documentation to demonstrate they meet basic legal industry standards and Compass Technical requirements. In 2023, Compass Group globally spent over $1 billion with diverse, local, social enterprise, and SME suppliers. In North America, the company launched a Diverse Supplier Accelerator Programme in 2021, supporting 10 women and minority-owned businesses annually. Purchasing from Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) farmers in North Carolina increased by 68% over the past year.

Kind to Animals

Compass Group PLC has committed to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs globally by 2025.

As of 2023, 78% of liquid eggs and 31% of shell eggs were sourced cage-free globally. The company committed to eliminating gestation crates for pigs in its U.S. supply chain by summer 2023 and to group-housed pork by summer 2024. In 2023, 32% of UK pork was sourced from stalls-banned regions. US businesses purchased over 37 million pounds of Humane Farm Animal Care certified proteins in 2023. Compass Group is a founding member of the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) and works with organizations like Compassion in World Farming and Humane Society International.

Planet-Friendly Business

Compass Group reported total Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions of 12,016,378 tCO2e in 2024, which increased by 6% year-on-year.

The company has SBTi-validated targets for 2030, including a 46% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and a 28% reduction in absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from a 2019 base year. Its net-zero target for global operations and value chain is 2050, with carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 by 2030. The company's TCFD report is fully adopted and aligned with UK Listing Rules, and it conducts comprehensive climate scenario analysis for 1.5°C, 2.5°C, and 4°C pathways, with strategic planning explicitly linked to scenarios. A deforestation-free policy for North America and UK operations, covering 90% of procurement spend, is targeted for implementation by 2025. Waste diversion rates include 99.16% overall at one client site and 96% in Canteen (US) warehouse operations. However, 100% renewable energy is only reported for specific subsidiaries (Canteen US warehouse and Compass Group France direct operations), not company-wide. The company has incurred $19,500 in environment-related penalties since 2000.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Compass Group has implemented various initiatives to reduce single-use plastics, including a 100% reduction in single-use consumer plastics at CITYPARK stadium in 2023.

The company also achieved a 100% reduction in paper straws through the CARE Zero Packaging Project in Portugal and avoided 3,000 plastic sachets of salad sauces at one site in Türkiye in one month. However, no company-wide percentage reduction from a baseline is provided. The company has a global target to halve food waste by 2030, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. Waste Not 2.0 technology has been deployed to over 3,500 sites worldwide, and pilot programs in the USA have shown up to a 45% reduction in food waste. The company also repurposes 30,000 kg of food monthly in Bangalore and 39,629 kg of used cooking oil annually in Austria for biofuel. Take-back programs cover 15-25% of products, as evidenced by the ReCIRCLE reusable takeaway solutions in Switzerland and OZZI reusable containers at American University. Circular design considerations are present in some product lines, such as upcycling coffee grounds into cups in Japan and using recycled materials in its Sweden head office. Waste reduction requirements for all tier-1 suppliers are in place, and customer education programs include providing tips and tools to reduce food waste and engaging clients in packaging tradeoffs. The company transforms cooking waste to biofuel in Austria, indicating some hazardous waste management efforts.