Business ethics

The Group strives to maintain high ethical and moral standards through the application of sound business principles in all circumstances. A new Code of Ethics was drafted in 2009 and circulated to each and every employee with a view that all employees may participate in the process of the design of the new Code of Ethics. The Code was updated to include all relevant comments and will be adopted as an inherent cornerstone of the Pioneer Foods Way in 2010.

Tip-offs Anonymous
Tip-offs Anonymous is an independent hotline service whereby any employee or stakeholder can on an anonymous and confidential basis report any dubious activity or unethical conduct in the Group. Reports are sent directly to the internal audit function and reported to the audit and risk committee.

Insider Trading
A closed period for trading in the Group’s shares is maintained for prescribed periods to prevent any insider trading of Group shares. (These periods apply at least every six months from 15 March and 15 September respectively until the publication of the interim or annual financial results.)

Directors and affected employees are prohibited to trade in Pioneer Foods’ shares in any other price sensitive periods. The company secretary notifies all directors and affected employees prior to the commencement of closed periods of the prohibitions in the Insider Trading Act relating to share dealings whilst in possession of price sensitive information. There is a process in place in terms of the requirements of the JSE Limited for directors to obtain prior clearance before dealing in Pioneer Foods’ shares.