Community Relation
GGC aims to conduct business in tandem with creating value for communities and society to maintain a balance in business operations and meet the expectations of stakeholders in all aspects, as well as improve the quality of life, economy, society and environment. The Company adheres to the principles of community involvement and social responsibility through projects and activities in line with the concept of the circular economy, as well as continuously collaborates with stakeholders to grow steadily and sustainably.
Key Stakeholders
Employee
Community
Government
Customer
Goals
92.64 percent
from communities regarding GGC’s operations
25 communities
Management Approach
Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Strategy
GGC has developed a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy aligned with its sustainable development goals and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The focus is on driving shared value creation (Creating Shared Value: CSV) and operating as a social enterprise (Social Enterprise: SE). This approach aims to address social challenges, promote the efficient use of resources, and respond to the expectations and concerns of stakeholders. GGC committed to fostering sustainable and balanced growth for both the business and the communities it serves.
GGC participates in CSR initiatives aligned with its CSR and sustainable development strategy, which emphasizes resilience, growth, and long-term sustainability while considering all stakeholder groups. These initiatives focus on contributing to economic development, enhancing quality of life, promoting education, and raising environmental awareness within communities. The goal is to achieve true and enduring sustainability.
GGC continues to pursue its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy to enhance organizational sustainability in a holistic manner across the entire value chain, encompassing all stakeholder groups. As a company committed to sustainable business operations, it places equal importance on implementing various CSR initiatives while striving to meet the needs of communities and society. This is achieved through more effective and efficient management of the CSR portfolio to generate social value, focusing on improving quality of life, conserving and promoting the efficient use of natural resources, enhancing energy efficiency, and contributing to social and environmental development. These efforts aim to strengthen ongoing trust and confidence in the company.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy
GGC is committed to creating value for the community and society through its local operations. The Company aims to stimulate economic growth, improve quality of life, and uphold the environmental integrity of surrounding communities. This is achieved through conducting impact assessment to identify potential negative impacts on its local stakeholders and the continuous execution of capacity building programs and stakeholder engagement programs. GGC's primary operations involve Methyl Ester Plant 1 in Tambon Map Ta Phut, Rayong Province, and Methyl Ester Plant 2 in Tambon Khao Sok, Chon Buri. Consequently, GGC actively collaborates with local communities and community enterprises to address operational challenges and fulfill the needs of these communities, ensuring effective communication with the company through clear communication channels and conducting regular surveys of perceptions on engagement programs. GGC also conducts regular meetings with local stakeholders to identify emerging concerns. In addition, to ensure that all concerns, grievances, and complaints are effectively reported to the Company. GGC continues to track them through grievance channels.
Local Stakeholders' Impact Assessment
GGC conducts an annual impact assessment on environmental and social aspects, particularly focusing on communities surrounding GGC and its subsidiary production units. This entails conducting a materiality assessment to identify the scope of affected communities and the range of local stakeholders impacted by the Company’s operations to establish a management approach, business strategic plan, and key initiatives to mitigate the identified impacts. Furthermore, a Human Rights Assessment is carried out using the Human Rights Due Diligence Process to identify vulnerable groups at risk of human rights violations, such as human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor, to prevent violations within local communities.
For more information of Materiality Assessment can be found in Materiality Topics
For more information of Human Rights Assessment can be found in Human Rights
Capacity Building Programs for Local Stakeholders
GGC has conducted annual community engagement programs, including executive-community meetings, to demonstrate its commitment to social responsibility with the target scope to cover all communities surrounding GGC’s operations. In 2024, The local communities within a 5-kilometer radius were the focus, with 25 communities being considered as target participants. Priority will be given to communities near GGC’s operations and those previously collaborating with the Company. These meetings allow community members to ask questions about the company and raise their emerging concerns, allowing stakeholders to express views of the Company. The main objective is to promote understanding and enhance positive GGC and community relations.
The Objective of the Annual Community Engagement Program:
- Provide an opportunity for GGC to introduce itself to the community and share information about its business, vision, mission, and various activities. This helps create a proper understanding of the Company and fosters a positive image within the community.
- Provide a platform for GGC’s executives and employees to interact with community members. They can engage in conversations, exchange knowledge, build relationships, and better understand the community's needs, challenges, and context.
- Provide a platform to encourage community members to ask questions, share thoughts, and give suggestions directly to GGC's executives. This feedback helps the Company gain insights into the community's concerns, needs, and existing issues, which ultimately would be incorporated into developing and improving CSR Strategy.
In addition, this program serves as a strategy for displaying social responsibility, building positive relationships, and fostering sustainable community development.
Furthermore, GGC is committed to improving the quality of life in communities surrounding the Company’s operations. Therefore, GGC has partnered with local community and community enterprises to create job opportunities, enhance education, and generate income to enhance their overall quality of life.
In 2024, GGC initiated key projects in local communities surrounding its operations including:
Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Projects
GGC places great importance on improving the quality of life for communities and society, aiming to enhance well-being, income, and the economy, as well as human resource development. It is committed to carrying out CSR projects and activities that support the company’s business growth while simultaneously improving quality of life to deliver long-term value to society.
Over the past year, the company has collaborated with government agencies, private sector organizations, and local communities to implement various CSR projects, such as:
Sustainable Palm Oil Production and Procurement (SPOPP) Project
GGC collaborates with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Thailand to implement a project aimed at improving the quality of life for oil palm smallholders and strengthening their capacity in sustainable palm oil production. The initiative centers around a training program for smallholder farmers under the “Thailand Oil Palm Smallholder Academy: TOPSA,” which serves as a key mechanism to equip farmers with the knowledge and skills necessary for sustainable palm oil production. The program aligns with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards and aims to support smallholders in achieving RSPO certification by 2024. Through this effort, GGC promotes sustainable practices among smallholder farmers and contributes to elevating the overall standard of palm oil production in the country.
In 2024, smallholder farmers participating in the project increased their oil palm yield by more than 0.64 tons per rai compared to before joining the initiative, while also reducing their average production cost by 0.42 THB per kilogram. Additionally, the SPOPP project supported 1,077 farmers in achieving RSPO certification, generating an average income of 17,443 THB per rai.
More details about progress of SPOPP can be found at GGC Integrated Sustainability Report 2024
Project SE Health & Personal care product
GGC has implemented a Social Enterprise (SE) initiative as part of its Sustainable Development strategy, in collaboration with the Koh Kok Community Occupational Promotion Enterprise in Rayong Province. The project, titled "SE Health & Personal Care Product," focuses on building knowledge and developing formulas for personal hygiene products. Production is carried out under the Rice Care brand, using the company’s RSPO-certified glycerin as a key ingredient in products such as body wash, hand soap, and other hygiene items.
This collaboration aims to position the Koh Kok Community Enterprise as a model for GGC’s SE Health & Personal Care Product initiative, with the goal of expanding and replicating the project in other communities in the future.
Green Health Project
The company has implemented the Green Health Project, leveraging its products to benefit society by using its 99.5% food- and pharmaceutical-grade glycerin as a key ingredient in hygiene products such as alcohol gel, alcohol spray, and liquid hand soap. In collaboration with its business partner, Standard Manufacturing Co., Ltd., the project has been carried out continuously.
The company utilizes the formula from its own CHOB alcohol gel brand to produce hygiene products for this initiative, aiming to support public health and well-being. This project serves as a model of how the company applies its innovations and products to address social and community challenges. It also fosters partnerships with public sector organizations such as the Thai Red Cross Society and hospitals to further promote hygiene and public health within communities and society at large.
Communication Channel
GGC is committed to maintaining clear communication channels for local stakeholders to engage with the Company. This ensures regular updates and timely, consistent dissemination of accurate information about GGC's operations, plans, and potential impacts. The goal is to establish a two-way communication flow, enabling local stakeholders to express their thoughts, seek clarification, and actively engage with the Company. Dedicated platforms are used to facilitate these channels:
1. Monthly Community Visit
GGC has prioritized engaging with local communities in Rayong and Chon Buri provinces, through monthly visits by the Company’s representatives to foster knowledge-sharing, support healthcare services, participate in volunteer and cultural activities, and gather insights into the local community's concerns surrounding our operations. These visits provide an open platform for local communities to express their thoughts while ensuring that the communities receive accurate and timely updates about GGC's operations, future plans, and potential impacts. GGC aims to build community trust and transparency by establishing this bi-directional communication channel.
2. Whistleblower Channel
GGC has a policy of being ready to listen to feedback, suggestions, questions or complaints related to Corporate Governance, Stakeholder Concerns or supervise to the operation from all stakeholders, whether it comes from personnel within the organization or from the third party. All information of the Complainant including other information of this complaint are only for the purpose of investigation and fact finding which will be treated as a strictly confidential according to the Company's regulations. The Complainant acknowledged that the information must be reported as truthful and provided sufficient evidence. The whistleblower channel can be found in Whistleblowing.
Grievance Tracking
GGC is dedicated to providing a clear grievance mechanism for stakeholders to voice complaints, seek resolution, and hold the company accountable, in line with GGC's Local Stakeholder Engagement and CSR Strategy. As a result, GGC has established a system for communities to report conflicts or concerns and a whistleblower policy to encourage reporting of inappropriate behaviours or actions against the Company's business ethics. The whistleblower system allows all local stakeholders to submit supporting documents through GGC’s whistleblowing channel. All complaints will be treated equally, transparently, and attentively. GGC ensures fairness to all parties and assures confidentiality and protection against retaliation for witnesses involved in the process. In 2024, there are no cases of any grievance from communities surrounding the GGC’s productions in Rayong and Chonburi provinces. The number of cases has been verified by the Rayong Department of Industrial Works (สำนักงานอุตสาหกรรมจังหวัดระยอง) and Chonburi Department of Industrial Works (สำนักงานอุตสาหกรรมจังหวัดชลบุรี).
More details about the whistleblower system and grievance mechanisms can be found at Business Conduct, Ethics and Compliance
Community Satisfaction Survey
In line with GGC’s Group-wide CSR strategy, GGC has been conducting an annual community satisfaction survey to address local concerns and understand the perceptions of our stakeholders regarding our engagement efforts. In 2024, due to our ongoing CSR initiatives, there have been no complaints from the local communities about our operations. Additionally, our community satisfaction score of 92.64% exceeds the set target and is consistent with GGC’s CSR strategy.
