Smithfield Foods, Inc. has announced that it received the Corporate Register's Innovation in Reporting Award for its 2015 Sustainability & Financial Report.

Corporate Register's Corporate Responsibility Reporting Awards (CRRA) programme also recognised Smithfield as first runner up for Best Integrated Report as well as for Openness & Honesty.

"We are committed to finding new ways to provide comprehensive, accessible information about our industry-leading programmes and initiatives to our employees, customers, consumers, and other stakeholders," said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. "We're honored to be recognised by Corporate Register, and we will continue to develop new tools to further educate and engage our stakeholders."

The CRRA Innovation in Reporting Award is presented annually in recognition of corporate responsibility reports that show new web technology features as well as fresh ways of approaching an issue, engaging stakeholders or presenting an overall picture.

For the first time in 2015, Smithfield issued its annual report in segments organised by each pillar of its sustainability programme to provide stakeholders with information in a more manageable way. The report featured an interactive website as well as case studies to help readers better understand Smithfield's sustainability practices and progress toward its suite of targets. The approach and inventive resources helped Smithfield achieve greater transparency while earning the company recognition among the world's best corporate responsibility reports.

"At Smithfield, innovation extends beyond the latest products hitting grocery store shelves," said Kenneth M. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods. "We're actively and aggressively pursuing fresh ideas and opportunities to work smarter, better serve our customers, and better communicate with our stakeholders. This honour acknowledges these efforts and demonstrates that innovation is part of our DNA."

In 2017, Smithfield increased its outreach by providing more resources to highlight its sustainability report by releasing summary videos and infographics with each section of the report, which includes Animal Care, Environment, Food Safety & Quality, Helping Communities, and People. These additional features better engage a broad range of audiences across a variety of channels.

- Smithfield