MARFRIG GLOBAL FOODS S.A.

About Marfrig

Marfrig Global Foods S.A. (Marfrig) is a Brazilian multinational corporation and the second largest animal protein provider worldwide, ultimately purchasing cattle from around 30,000 direct suppliers and up to 90,000 indirect suppliers in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes alone. In February 2021, &Green and Marfrig announced the conclusion of a USD 30 million 10-year sustainability-linked loan facility.

&Green’s financing will be used by Marfrig to enable and implement a no- deforestation requirement across its entire supply chain in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, covering all tiers of farms it is associated with, i.e. covering the entire life cycle of the individual cows which ultimately end up in Marfrig’s slaughterhouses. Concrete milestones and targets have been set with Marfrig to first reach full traceability and then to be able to concretely demonstrate no deforestation. &Green has structured the loan in such a way as to incentivize Marfrig to reach targets even more quickly than agreed, with a step-down in interest rates being possible.

Transaction Summary

NAME

Marfrig Global Foods S.A. (Marfrig)

Jurisdiction

Mato Grosso, Brazil

Sector

Cattle

&Green Investment

USD 30 million

Investment Term

10 years

Financial Structure

&Green provided a USD 30 million loan, disbursed in Q1 2021. The loan carries a 10-year tenor and aims to be a catalyst for the company to issue more green debt in the markets over the coming years.

Marfrig page on the &Green website

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

FOREST PROTECTED

2,774,229 hectares

CLIMATE BENEFITS

5,328,493 tCO₂e

ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE

2,774,229 hectares

PEOPLE RESILIENCE

5,761 #

PEOPLE BENEFITTING

5,761 #

CAPITAL MOBILIZED

USD 30 Million

INVESTMENT RATIONALE

&Green chose to support Marfrig to build momentum around sustainable and inclusive production models in Brazil: cattle ranching is seen as the sector with the greatest impact on Brazilian forest and natural habitat loss, caused by the conversion of forests to pastureland.

&Green’s investment aims to bolster Marfrig’s commitment to address cattle-driven deforestation, pioneering as the first Brazilian meatpacker to meaningfully commit to trace and monitor indirect suppliers. Given that traceability and monitoring of upstream cattle producers are especially challenging in Brazil due to the fragmentation and informality of the sector, Marfrig’s commitment serves as a potential proof of concept for the country’s meat industry, by applying no-deforestation supply chain criteria to both direct and indirect suppliers. In addition to supply chain management, this transaction links cattle production to long-term forest protection.

By establishing an inclusive, sustainable, and deforestation-free cattle supply chain, Marfrig commits to achieve more than 1 million hectares of forest protected, while also restoring natural forest in key areas. Cattle suppliers will have continued market access and benefit from the sharing of best management practices. Marfrig has furthermore committed to pastureland restoration across smallholder farms. &Green believes that inclusion of all producers is key to ensure no-deforestation compliance and transform business practices.

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READ THE CASE STUDY ON MARFRIG BY &GREEN AND IDH

A YEAR IN REVIEW

HIGHLIGHTS

Improvements in traceability

In 2021, Marfrig improved its supply chain traceability through the creation of a detailed risk mapping, which contributed to the development of a prioritization plan. Given the large scale of Marfrig’s supply chain, assessing the risk severity (social & environmental) of all the locations the business sources from helps prioritizing traceable and compliant suppliers. Such a risk map is part of the ESAP , which required consultations with three NGOs and a social expert (Friends of the Earth Brazil, The Nature Conservation, WWF Brazil and InPACTO) that all took place in 2021. To improve the social indicators used in the risk mapping, a partnership between InPACTO and Marfrig has been signed in late 2021.

Development Of Purchasing And Control Criteria

In the past year, Marfrig developed purchasing and control criteria that apply to indirect suppliers, allowing Marfrig to trace them in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. Marfrig already has the system to trace direct suppliers.

KEY LEARNINGS

Over the last two years, the sustainability of the cattle industry has increasingly been under the spotlight; this is specifically the case for the Brazilian beef sector. Deforestation rates across Brazil have increased during Covid-19 and messaging from the federal government has alarmed investors, creating significant uncertainty as to Brazil’s commitment to protect forest and communities living in and around forests. Furthermore, international markets (in particular the EU) is increasing regulations on imports, particularly to delink EU imports from deforestation.

Such rhetoric is proving beneficial in pressuring the industry to address the sustainability risks and negative impacts associated to it. The largest sector players (i.e. the three largest Brazilian meatpackers) have now all made public commitments to stop deforestation whether legal or illegal, and smaller players are following suit. Overall, the governance of the Brazilian beef industry is improving, becoming better organized and better aligned on common goals.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FACILITY

&Green has partnered with IDH on a Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) dedicated to support &Green’s prospective clients to become investment-ready, maximize (and monitor) their environmental and social impact post &Green investment, and potentially support in managing and reducing key risks. The TAF also has the mandate and ambition to stimulate learning and sharing lessons to allow other players in the agri-sector to innovate.

To maximize Marfrig’s impact post-investment, the TAF is supporting the development of an approach towards suppliers who do not meet Marfrig’s purchasing policy (and thus have previously been blocked from supplying to Marfrig) to become compliant. This is part of the efforts from Marfrig to be inclusive instead of just exclusionary in its approach, i.e. help all to become compliant and only exclude those who show no willingness to become sustainable. The TAF, implemented by IDH, is also supporting a model for Marfrig’s engagement with indirect suppliers to sustainably intensify their production.

Furthermore, IDH and Marfrig started a pilot in 2021, covering 25 properties, to promote the restoration of forests in the Amazon biome, and establish a business model for the expansion of the project to reach at least 90 properties in the coming years, addressing the restoration commitments made by Marfrig under its LPP .

The post-investment TAF provided to Marfrig exemplifies how &Green promotes social inclusion of suppliers and financial incentives as means towards compliance with traceability and no-deforestation production requirements.

We are taking a very important step with the contribution made by &Green. This investment will boost a series of actions that seek to balance production and conservation, always from the perspective of inclusion of ranchers.

PAULO PIANEZ

Director of Sustainability and Communication, Marfrig

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2022

TRACING

Besides progress in achieving traceability with indirect suppliers in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, Marfrig also aims to have all direct suppliers in high-risk areas of the Cerrado traced.

PURCHASE-AND-CONTROL

Purchase-and-control criteria is a key pillar of the Marfrig approach towards traceability and ultimately no-deforestation claims. Marfrig will finalize this approach for the Cerrado in 2022 in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including civil society.

PROTOCOL FOR SCREENING

Another big step in 2022 will be to finalize the protocol for screening, approving, and rejecting suppliers in both the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. While suppliers will be made accountable for complying to Marfrig’s purchase and control criteria in 2-3 years only, the protocol is developed as early as possible to inform suppliers about these rules and give them an opportunity to work towards compliance, starting from 2022.