TRANSFORMING
LIVES THROUGH THE
SCIENCE OF FOOD
Our purpose is why we do what we do.
It inspires us, and makes us strive to do our best.
PURPOSE intro 2021
We’ve been working to transform lives for over 160 years, growing our business and making a positive impact on society.
Whether it’s by supporting healthy living, building thriving communities or caring for our planet, we live our purpose every day, in everything we do.
Our purpose is our guiding light, enabling our people to achieve remarkable things.
Latest purpose news and insights
Latest purpose news and insights
In 2020, we set ourselves some ambitious long-term commitments and targets for the three pillars of our purpose.
We support healthy living by using our ingredients and expertise to help people make healthier and tastier choices when they eat and drink, and to lead more balanced lifestyles.
These are our commitments:
• By 2025, we will have helped improve the lives of over 250,000 people by supporting programmes that promote healthier lifestyles and activities.
• By 2025, through our no/low calorie sweeteners and fibres, we will have helped remove 9 million tonnes of sugar from people’s diets, equivalent to 36 trillion calories.
• By 2025, we will have helped our colleagues improve how they look after their physical and mental wellbeing so they can be their best at work and in their daily lives.
You can track our progress on how we are supporting healthy living in the 2025 Annual Report, which will be published in June 2025.
We build thriving communities where we operate and support people to achieve their potential.
These are our commitments:
• By 2025, we’ll have supported the education of over 100,000 children and students through learning programmes and grants, helping them attain skills for life.
• By 2025, we’ll have provided over 3 million nutritious meals for people in need.
• By 2025, we’ll achieve gender parity in our leadership roles.
You can track our progress on how we are building thriving communities in the 2025 Annual Report, which will be published in June 2025.
We care for the planet we live on and help protect its natural resources for the benefit of future generations.
In 2024, Tate & Lyle announced ambitious new GHG emissions reduction targets in line with reductions required to limit global warming to 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels. These targets, which have been validated as science-based by Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), are:
Energy and Industrial
- Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 38% by 2028 from a 2019 base year.1
- Reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions by 38% by 2028 from a 2019 base year.
Forests, Land and Agriculture (FLAG)
- Reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions by 23% by 2028 from a 2019 base year.2
- No deforestation across our primary deforestation-linked commodities, with a target date of 31 December 2025.
Our other environmental targets and commitments are:
- By 2025, we’ll have eliminated coal from all our operations (we achieved this in 2021).
- By 2030, 100% of the electricity we purchase for our operations will come from renewable sources.
- By 2030, 100% of our waste will be beneficially used.
- By 2030, we’ll have reduced water use intensity by 15%.
- We’ll maintain sustainable acreage equivalent to the volume of corn we buy globally each year, and through partnerships we’ll accelerate the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices.
You can track our progress on how we are caring for our planet in the 2025 Annual Report, which will be published in June 2025.
Tate & Lyle is a signatory of the UN Global compact, the world’s largest sustainability initiative. In doing so, we have committed to supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have assessed the goals and have decided to focus on those SDGs which are most closely aligned to our purpose and where we can have most impact. These are:
Tate & Lyle PLC is also a member of the FTSE4Good Index Series*. The FTSE4Good Index Series recognises companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.
*FTSE Russell (the trading name of FTSE International Limited and Frank Russell Company) confirms that Tate & Lyle has been independently assessed according to the FTSE4Good criteria, for further information please see the FTSE4Good website here.
We are proud to share details of our how we are meeting our environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) commitments and participate in a number of assessments, including: EcoVadis, CDP, DJSI, Sustainalytics, WBA Food and Agriculture Benchmark, and the ISS QualityScore & Corporate Report
Our ESG ratings are published on these organisations’ website and demonstrate our progress over time. For instance, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), one of the world’s leading rating agencies for corporate governance and sustainable investments, has upgraded Tate & Lyle’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating to ‘Prime’ designating Tate & Lyle in the 10% Food sector companies. In 2023, CDP recognized Tate & Lyle as a Supplier Engagement Leader for our supply chain engagement.