Media Contacts:
Andrea Ranger, Shareholder Advocate, aranger@greencentury.com, 781-349-2813;
Pam Podger, Communications Director, ppodger@greencentury.com, 802-299-9495
Boston, May 19, 2023 – – Shareholders of Mondelēz International, Inc., a food company known for its popular snack brands, such as Chips Ahoy!, Cadbury, Ritz, and Oreo, were reluctant to support a Green Century° proposal, as evidenced by the vote tally released on Friday. The proposal, which asks Mondelēz to disclose interim targets for achieving its goal to source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025, captured 9.8% of the total vote.
Demand for cage-free eggs, and the supply to match it, has grown dramatically in the U.S. and European Union in recent years –driven by consumer awareness of and desire for humanely-raised animal proteins as well as government pressure on manufacturers to switch to producing cage-free eggs. The term “cage-free” was coined in response to farmers’ use of “battery cages,” where hens are housed in spaces that are smaller than the size of a piece of printer paper.
Mondelēz first announced in 2016 that it would source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025. However, recent company disclosures of current sourcing volumes indicate that it is unlikely to meet its goal, which prompted the Green Century proposal. In recent years, excluding its Russian and Ukrainian egg markets, Mondelēz sourced cage-free eggs at a rate of 27% in 2020, 39% in 2021, and 43% in 2022. Extrapolating from its current progress, Mondelēz would achieve a sourcing rate of only 59% by the end of 2025, far short of its original ambition.
However, Mondelēz peers, General Mills and Conagra, disclose their planned progressions toward their global cage-free egg targets and are further along in achieving their goals than Mondelēz. Further, Target and a wide range of quick service food retailers including Jack in the Box, Denny’s, Bloomin’ Brands (the parent of Olive Garden) have also disclosed similar cage-free egg glide paths to their shareholders.
Green Century Funds President Leslie Samuelrich responded to the vote result by saying:
“While we had hoped for greater support for our proposal, this is the first year we’ve brought this issue of cage-free egg goals to Mondelēz shareholders for a vote. Without publishing a clear path for achieving its 2050 cage-free egg sourcing goal, Mondelēz may be inviting unnecessary risk by being seen as not living up to its obligations. This is especially true because we’re talking about a sensitive animal welfare issue that has quite a bit of public support.”
Andrea Ranger, a shareholder advocate at Green Century commented:
“Disclosure is central to investor decision making, but Mondelēz has told us that disclosing interim targets for its 100% cage-free egg by 2050 goal would be “burdensome, unnecessary…. and could generate confusion among our stakeholders.” Given that it’s now 2023 and Mondelēz committed to reach its goal in 2025, one has to ask, does it really have a plan? If so, why wouldn’t it share it with investors? For the sake of its investors, customers, and the health of the animals in its supply chain, I hope it does and it will.”
An investment strategy that incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.
###
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (The Funds). The Green Century Funds are one of the first families of fossil fuel-free, environmentally responsible mutual funds. Green Century hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.
*As of March 31, 2023, Mondelēz International, Inc. comprised 0.00%, 0.52%, and 0.00% of the Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund, respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the Green Century Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.
The percentage in favor was calculated by (i) dividing the number of votes in support of the proposal by (ii) the sum of the number of votes voted in support of and against the proposal. Abstentions and broker non-votes were not included in the calculation.
You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please visit www.greencentury.com, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 5/23