One of the biggest challenges we face as a large, decentralised food company is ensuring we communicate effectively and encourage employee engagement across, and within, our businesses.

We provide open channels of communication between employees and management through regular Site Employee Forums (SEFs) and the annual Group Employee Forum (GEF) where matters of common concern are discussed and learnings, best practice and ideas are shared. This enables positive policy development and the communication and discussion of operational changes.

We are committed to providing our customers with outstanding service, quality, innovation and value. We commission regular consumer research to ensure we stay ahead of emerging trends and we build strong relationships with customers across all levels of the business so that we can develop and make innovative and commercially-viable products.

As part of our commitment to our customers we aim to not only meet but exceed their specific scorecard criteria, which cover a range of performance indicators such as commercial, technical, service, new product development and innovation, as well as how we do business. Senior management customer champions are also appointed to ensure that customer communication, relations and account planning are given a high profile within the business.

In addition, we work collaboratively with customers to support specific initiatives as set out in their Corporate Responsibility agendas.

We have developed our most successful relationships with suppliers who understand customer service, food safety excellence, a quest for continuous improvement and the importance of innovative forward thinking. These criteria form part of our supplier selection process and are essential in meeting our long-term needs.

Over the past few years our focus has been heavily geared towards managing the impact of price volatility in commodity markets. To help mitigate the effects of price fluctuations we are, where possible, increasingly hedging our exposure via longer forward contracts on key commodity items and establishing cost-principled pricing contracts to reduce the impact of market sentiment. This involves working closely with key suppliers. Having an established relationship with them is a vital part of the contract negotiation process.

Human Rights and ethical auditing
Bakkavor supports the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation. We, and our suppliers, are required to comply with all local and national laws covering working hours and conditions, health and safety, rates of pay, terms of employment and minimum age of employment. We carry out ethical audits on our suppliers, where required, based on risk-assessment and customer specifications. We are founder members of SEDEX, which helps to risk-assess the supply chain according to the ETI Base Code.

We are committed to open, timely and unbiased communication with all stakeholders, whilst being conscious of the need to respect commercial sensitivities. More detail on our investor engagement programme can be found in our Corporate Governance section.

IN 2012, THE GROUP DONATED OVER £159,000 TO CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS.

The largest contributor within the Group was Bakkavor Spalding's Staff Shop, based in Lincolnshire, which donates all proceeds to local charities and employee events.

We expect our local management teams to understand the issues facing their communities and we encourage them to support local initiatives. At our annual Group Responsibility Awards ceremony we present our Good Neighbour Award to the site that has made the most positive impact in its local community.

At the 2012 awards held in May, nine sites submitted an entry for our Good Neighbour Award and Ann Savage, GEF Chairperson, was delighted to announce Caledonian Produce as the overall winner. Caledonian successfully linked up with the local newspaper to ask people in its community which charities the business should support. This forged a positive relationship with the local paper and proved an effective way of engaging with the local community.

In 2012, the Group donated over £159,000 to charitable organisations. The largest contributor within the Group was Bakkavor Spalding's Staff Shop, based in Lincolnshire, which donates all proceeds to local charities and employee events.

Employees at our GEF 2012, who organise site events to raise money for local charities

Our Group Technical Director and Group CSR Manager actively engage with external CR-related forums and industry working groups and, between them, sit on all major customer working parties. Examples of industry engagement include: Industry Grocery Distribution (IGD) Industry Sustainability Group and Water Stewardship, IGD New and Emerging Technologies Group and IGD Technical Leadership Forum.