Grupo Bimbo Leads MERCO’s 2023 ESG Rankings

The Corporate Reputation Monitor (MERCO) unveiled the most responsible companies in Mexico based on ESG criteria for 2023. Grupo Bimbo emerged as the front-runner across all ranking categories, securing its position as the most responsible company nationwide for the 10th consecutive year.

In its 11th edition of the ESG Responsibility Report in Mexico, MERCO ranked the Top 100 companies for 2023. Results were categorized into three sub-rankings, each corresponding to an ESG variable: the most responsible companies toward the environment (E), those excelling in internal matters, client relationships, and societal impact (S), and those demonstrating excellence in ethical and governance aspects (G). Additionally, a general ranking was established to provide an overview of companies' overall performance.

Grupo Bimbo led the list in the environmental category, followed by Grupo Modelo, Natura, BBVA, Google, Nestlé, Grupo Hérdez, Heineken México, L'Oréal, and Walmart Mexico & Centroamerica. Furthermore, in the internal aspect, concerning clients and society, Grupo Bimbo once again claimed the title of the most responsible company. Following in this category were Grupo Modelo, Google, BBVA, Nestlé, Cinépolis, Grupo Hérdez, Heineken México, MercadoLibre, and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Regarding ethical and governance aspects, Grupo Bimbo maintained its top position, with Google, BBVA, Grupo Modelo, Nestlé, Mercado Libre, Microsoft, Liverpool, Cinépolis, and Grupo Hérdez following suit. Finally, in the global ranking, as anticipated, Grupo Bimbo and Grupo Modelo secured their positions as the most responsible ESG companies in Mexico for 2023. The remaining companies in the Top 10 included Google, BBVA, Nestlé, Grupo Hérdez, MercadoLibre, Natura, Heineken Mexico, and Pfizer.

MERCO emphasized that these rankings were meticulously crafted through an in-depth analysis involving more than 24,066 surveys, six evaluations, and 24 sources of information. Additionally, internal results were verified through an independent review by KPMG, following the ISAE 3000 standard.

Beyond the rankings, MERCO highlighted a slight setback in companies' performance in 2023. "Demands and expectations are outpacing our progress," noted MERCO. Consequently, in comparison to the previous edition, experts in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rated Mexican companies lower in transparency, good governance, responsibility toward employees, ethical conduct, commitment to the environment and climate change, and contribution to the community.

Objective data from the report revealed that the most responsible sectors overall are the food sector in the environmental dimension and the financial sector in both the internal, client, and societal ranking, as well as the ethical and corporate governance dimension. Additionally, for the general population, the most responsible sectors are information technology, consumer goods, and automotive.

For this study, MERCO engaged with 1,242 executives from large companies, 92 economic information journalists, 80 government officials, 110 experts in Corporate Social Responsibility, 84 financial analysts, 86 social media managers, 82 NGO representatives, 70 union members, and 80 consumer association representatives, alongside 3,000 citizens (Merco Society) and 14,494 workers (Merco Talent).