Pulmuone, 5 Consecutive Years of A+ Grade in 2021 ESG Evaluation...The Only Food Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Pulmuone received an integrated A+ rating in the 2021 ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) evaluation, which assesses non-financial performance.

On the 3rd, Pulmuone announced that it was the only food company to achieve an integrated A+ (very excellent) rating for five consecutive years in the ESG rating evaluation of listed companies recently announced by the Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS).

Among 765 companies, only 14 received the integrated A+ rating in this comprehensive ESG evaluation, and Pulmuone was the only food company. In this evaluation, Pulmuone received an A in the environmental sector, an A+ in social responsibility, and an A+ in governance.

The Korea Corporate Governance Service has been conducting annual ESG evaluations since 2011 to assess companies' non-financial levels, understand their sustainability management levels, and use the results for improvement. This ESG evaluation was conducted over six months from April to October, targeting 765 companies out of 950 eligible companies, evaluating 281 key items in three areas: environment, social responsibility, and governance, and assigning an integrated rating.

Especially this year, as interest and importance in ESG management increased, new evaluation items based on domestic related laws and systems and international standards were applied to enhance the reliability of the survey. The evaluation results are reflected in the Korea Exchange's Socially Responsible Investment Index portfolio and are used by individual and institutional investors for investment decision-making.

In the environmental sector, energy-saving policies and eco-friendly packaging aimed at minimizing environmental impact were positively evaluated. Pulmuone, which declared the expansion of eco-friendly packaging products company-wide in 2019, plans to apply 100% recyclable excellent packaging materials to all products by 2022.

In the social sector, activities protecting workers' human rights and creating a safe working environment, operating support programs for partner companies for mutual growth, developing products and services that ensure nutritional balance while protecting the environment and enabling sustainable living, and social contribution activities reflecting the nature of the business were positively evaluated.

In the governance sector, Pulmuone received high scores for its professional management system, advanced board composition, high ratio of outside directors, open shareholders' meetings, and disclosure of board evaluation information. To ensure fairness and transparency in management and sustainable growth and development, last year, the proportion of outside directors was increased to 72.7%, the highest level among general listed companies, and the ratio of female outside directors was also raised to 37.5%, securing gender diversity.

Meanwhile, Pulmuone's ESG practice efforts have been recognized externally as well. In October last year, it received the Best Company Award in the ESG category at the '2020 ESG Excellent Companies Awards Ceremony' hosted by the Korea Corporate Governance Service and held at the Korea Exchange. Earlier in 2019, Pulmuone ranked 6th among 116 global food companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) evaluated by the United States.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.