Smithfield Foods Gets 'A+' for 2009-10 Corporate Sustainability Report

The Roberts Environmental Center of Claremont McKenna College has given Smithfield Foods Inc. its top grade of 'A+' for the company's sustainability reporting for 2009-10, putting Smithfield first among the 35 companies analyzed in the food and beverages sector.

In reviewing Smithfield's 2009-10 Corporate Social Responsibility Report and the company's 2010 website pages, the Roberts Environmental Center gave Smithfield's sustainability report the highest mark possible among sustainability reports from the world's largest food and beverage companies.

The Roberts Environmental Center has been the foremost analyst of corporate sustainability reporting for more than a decade. The center analyzes corporate sustainability disclosure information using its Pacific Sustainability Index (PSI) and publishes the results annually on its website. Claremont McKenna is located in Claremont, Calif.

In its summary of Smithfield's sustainability reporting, the center said in part, "Smithfield Foods' Corporate Social Responsibility Report includes the important sustainability information we are looking for, including energy consumption and water used. In addition, the company does a good job reporting on climate change, specifically reducing the environmental impacts identified by environmental management systems."

Smithfield Foods received an 'A' from the college in 2009.