GLOBAL – Kellogg Co., PepsiCo, Inc., and Grupo Bimbo, giant multinationals from the food and beverage space, have made it to the 2023 list of “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by the Ethisphere Institute.

The Ethisphere Institute is a for-profit company that defines and measures corporate ethical standards, recognizes companies that excel, and promote best practices in corporate ethics

The celebrated milestone follows Ethisphere’s 17 years of making lists of companies globally, committed to business ethics and integrity.

To achieve its goal, Ethisphere uses a 200-point survey known as the Ethics Quotient, which functions as an operating framework to better understand these companies’ leading practices

According to the analyst, in 2023, 135 publicly traded companies spanning 19 countries and 48 industries have been recognized for their unwavering commitment to business integrity.

However, among the excellent corporates were PepsiCo (17 times), Kellogg (15 times), Ingredion (9 times), Grupo Bimbo (7 times), and ADM (4 times)

Ethisphere revealed that the categories in the survey include culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In addition, the watchdog said that the rewards also look into practices and programs that positively impact employees, communities, and broader stakeholders, while contributing to sustainable and profitable long-term performance

Erica Salmon Byrne, chief executive officer of Ethisphere in a statement said that people look to businesses today to lead on important issues and to do right by all of their stakeholders

According to the report, Ethisphere’s 2023 Ethics Index – comprising this year’s recipients – outperformed a comparable index of large-cap companies by 13.6 percentage points over the past five calendar years.

Ramon Laguarta, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo said that they are proud to be a 17-time World’s Most Ethical Companies honoree.

Kellogg chairman and CEO Steve Cahillane, on his part, said that “We work diligently to fulfill our purpose of creating better days and a place at the table for everyone through our trusted food brands.

For Grupo Bimbo, “acting with integrity is a priority,” said Ignacio Stepancic, global compliance leader for Bimbo

As part of the award process, Ethisphere has given each an overview of how they scored against others in similar categories.

They have also been given access to 15 key Ethics Quotient data points in an interactive format powered by The Sphere – Ethisphere’s new Ethics and Compliance benchmarking platform.

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