Associated British Foods — Ethics Grade C-

Associated British Foods receives an overall ethics grade of C- (42/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Food & Beverage. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 30
• privacy: 80
• consumer: 55
• environment: 45
• humanRights: 25

Documented incidents (3)

• Rana Plaza Factory Collapse (high, 2013) — Primark, a subsidiary, was a major buyer from the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh that collapsed, killing over 1,100 garment workers. The tragedy highlighted severe safety negligence and poor working conditions in the company's supply chain.
• Child Labor in Sugar Supply Chain (high, 2021) — Investigations linked the company's African sugar operations to systemic child labor and land grabbing allegations in countries like Zambia and Malawi. Reports indicated that smallholder farmers were often displaced without adequate compensation.
• Zambian Tax Avoidance Scandal (medium, 2013) — The company was accused of shifting profits from its Zambian sugar subsidiary to tax havens, allegedly depriving one of the world's poorest countries of $27 million in tax revenue over several years.

Documented good deeds

• Primark Sustainable Cotton Program — Trained over 250,000 farmers in India and Pakistan on more sustainable farming methods, reducing chemical pesticide use by 40%.

Ethical alternatives

• Patagonia — Gold standard for supply chain transparency and fair labor.