Stakeholder views and interests

Royal A-ware identifies multiple stakeholder groups, such as financial institutions, employees, business partners, suppliers and governments in the regions and countries where we operate. These stakeholders may vary over time, and the relevance of their interests is context-specific and may depend on their potential to be affected by our activities and decisions which is to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Royal A-ware values open, meaningful and effective dialogue with all stakeholders. We actively engage with our employees, dairy farmers, customers and partners to understand their needs expectations, ensuring our ESG strategy reflects their views and interests. We maintain an ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders through both formal and informal channels. The table below outlines how we engage with our various stakeholder groups and the purpose of these interactions.

Stakeholder engagement overview				Consulted on specific topics for
Stakeholders		Process	Setting targets	Setting targets	Setting policy
Employees	Local Works Councils	Regular meetings, employee development process, video updates by CEO, A-ware Speak, AB Connect	Consultation	E1 \| E3 \| E4 \| E5 \| S1 \| S4 \| G1	E1 \| E3 \| E4 \| E5 \| S1 \| S4 \| G1
Employees	Individual employees		Information Consultation	E1 \| E3 \| E4 \| E5 \| S1 \| S4 \| G1	E1 \| E3 \| E4 \| E5 \| S1 \| S4 \| G1
Suppliers	Through partnerships B2B	Regular meetings	Consultation		E1
Governments, municipalities	At different levels with representatives in all the countries we operate.	Theme meetings, multi-stakeholder projects, through membership of branch organisations	Information Consultation	E3 \| E5	G1
Financial institutions	Financial institutions	Bilateral meetings	Information Consultation		E1 \| E3 \| E5 \| S1
Industry organisations / NGO’s	NZO, BCZ, FeNIL, ZuivelNL, Gemzu, VNO-NCW, EDA, TLN	Through direct or indirect membership	Information Consultation		E5 \| S4 \| Nutritional value
Customers	Retail Food Industry Foodservice Agriculture Feed manufacturers	Bilateral meetings	Consultation	S4	S4
Dairy farmers	Individual farmers in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain Sounding boards in The Netherlands and Belgium	Meetings	Information Consultation		E1 \| E4 \| G1 \| Resilient dairy farming
Strategic partners	Various companies	Bilateral meetings	Consultation		S4

Information: providing information to stakeholders without active feedback or dialogue taking place.
Consultation: dialogue to gather their input, feedback, and recommendations, with the aim of shaping policies, strategies, or decisions.The policy headings can be consulted by stakeholders via the sustainability report. If stakeholders have any additional questions, they may contact Royal A-ware.

Sustainability pillars

Based on six pillars, we are constantly taking strategic measures to make our supply chains increasingly efficient and sustainable, so that all stakeholders benefit in the long term. Four of these – Greenhouse Gases, Product, Raw Materials and Dairy Farming – are closely linked to the links in our chain. The other two pillars – Employees and Respectful Collaboration – form the foundation and are essential for making our chains more efficient and sustainable.