Cerebos Pacific Limited

History

Cerebos Pacific Limited traces its name back to 1892 when a French chemical engineer decided to mix calcium phosphate with salt and invented dry-pouring salt. The brand name 'Cerebos' was registered - derived from 'Ceres' for the Roman goddess of wheat harvest, and 'os' from the French word for 'bone' that the phosphates in salt strengthen.

Cerebos subsequently grew to include a wide range of food products, acquiring Brand & Company in 1959 but was in turn acquired by Rank Hovis McDougall PLC (RHM) in 1968.

The modern history of Cerebos then begins in 1981 in Singapore when Cerebos Pacific Limited was formed and bought over all RHM subsidiaries in the Far East in 1982. In 1990, Suntory Holdings Limited purchased Rank Hovis McDougall PLC shares in Cerebos Pacific Limited. In 2012, Cerebos was delisted from SGX and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited.

Corporate Governance

In Cerebos Pacific Limited, the Board of Directors is responsible for the success of the company and is accountable to the shareholders while the Management is accountable to the Board. The Chairman of the board is Hong Sik Park, and the members consist of Gen Saito, Nobuhiro Tori, Manabu Seki and Hideo Tsujimura.

Health Supplement Division

In Asia, the Health Supplement Division manages BRAND’S liquid and tablet product ranges for consumers’ health and wellness needs. Other Brain-to-Body Wellness brands include Xu Pei and Hua Tuo. Skin and Beauty Wellness brands. Each of these brands has a wide range of products targeted at different segments.

Food & Coffee Division

In Australasia, Cerebos is a sauce, spice and coffee manufacturing organisation. Based in Australia, the Food & Coffee Division products include gravies, sauces, pickles, herbs and spices, salt, pepper, food mixes, desserts and toppings, drinks and coffee marketed under brand names including Gravox, Fountain, Saxa and Gregg’s.

Cerebos’ coffee products include a variety of fresh coffee and instant coffees, sold under brand names such as Robert Harris, Mocopan, Toby’s Estate, Caffe L’affare and Gregg’s.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Cerebos’ CSR contributions are carried out through the CSR concept of the "triple bottom line". This encompasses social value, environmental value and economic value.

Social Value

In 2002, Cerebos launched its Work-Life Balance Programme, which was renamed to Quality Work-Life Programme in 2013. Since the beginning of its launch, several initiatives have been executed to promote employee’s health and well being, while fostering greater relations between colleagues and their own families.

For instance, the company implemented the Charity Points programme. Employees are encouraged to exercise in their own free time, be it during lunch, after work or during the weekends. Cerebos has an in-house gym to cater to that purpose. For every exercise session fulfilled, Cerebos donates $5 to The Singapore Straits Times School Pocket Money fund on behalf of the employees.

Besides contributing to communities, Cerebos also implements initiatives that are specifically for its employees’ development. For example, the company has a ‘Grow From Within’ initiative which builds up high potential staff to become leaders in the company. The framework is also accompanied by key leadership development programmes for employees to participate in.

Environmental Value

Since 2000, Cerebos Australia has been a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant (NPC), which commits to reducing packaging waste. The company constantly works with suppliers, partners and employees to roll out new initiatives to further reduce packaging waste.

In Cerebos New Zealand, a new environmental programme was developed to reduce environmental impact of packaging. In 2010, the new Packaging Stewardship Scheme was launched to increase recycled content in packaging and consumer awareness and understanding of sustainable packaging.

Cerebos’ factories in Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan also observe several ISO environmental and safety standards that see reductions in electricity, steam and water consumption. The two newest factories in Thailand and Malaysia are also uniquely designed to be process and energy efficient as well as geared for waste minimisation.

Cerebos also adopted the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) sustainability reporting standards and have dedicated efforts to the selection and tracking of relevant indicators for the Cerebos Group. Thereafter, statistics were compiled in accordance with the respective indicators. In 2015, Cerebos became the first ten companies to launch its inaugural CSR Sustainability Report.

Economic Value

Cerebos Pacific Limited is no longer listed on any stock exchange. Therefore, the company is not legally required to disclose financial performance information to public. However, its parent company, Suntory Holdings Limited, publishes Annual Reports that contain the group performance.

For the "Economic" aspect of CSR at Cerebos, it takes into account direct economic value generated and distributed, including revenue, operating costs, employee compensation, environmental maintenance costs and local markets’ contributions.

Cerebos contributes economically to the local markets in which it operates in by supporting local based suppliers in that region. In markets like Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, Cerebos has policies there that support the use of local resources and employment of the local populace.

Awards

Over the past decades, Cerebos has received many awards for its brands and name. In 2015, Cerebos was awarded with the "Best Companies for Mums' SG50 Special Award" for its development in flexible work-life benefits beyond statuary requirements. In 2014, one of its brands, BRAND'S, won the Grand Gold and Gold Quality Awards in the Monde Selection Awards Back in 2012, Cerebos clinched the Work-Life Excellence Award by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy. Cerebos also received the Platinum Award at the Singapore HEALTH Awards in 2009 organised by the Health Promotion Board.