Materiality matrix

The material topics, namely the most significant issues identified via a context analysis and shared discussion with internal and external stakeholders, form the basis for our strategic sustainability planning and performance reporting.

The process

Via the materiality analysis process, we identify the most important economic and governance, social and environmental or "material" topics for the Group and our stakeholders, considering their impact on the business and on the parties concerned.

The analysis is divided into different phases:

• documental and contextual analysis,
  
• dialogue with internal and external stakeholders and with company managers,
  
• elaboration of the matrix and return of the results.
  

The output of the process is the materiality matrix, a two-dimensional graph, where the issues are placed in order of their importance.

The cycle of analyses that we conducted in 2022, valid also as regards 2023, with a view to identifying the main topics of interest and defining their prioritisation according to their associated impacts, using a more inclusive and participatory methodology, provided for:

• an analysis of documentation, conducted on about 30 documents (scenario, representative of stakeholder, strategic and internal management requests), leading to identification of 15 potentially relevant topics and the main associated areas of impact;
  
• identification of the stakeholders (both external and internal) to be involved, carried out in collaboration with transversal structures of the Holding Company and the operating companies, leading to a focus on specific categories of stakeholder: institutions, peers and competitors, business partners, membership organisations, scientific communities, suppliers, customers, and consumer associations, employees, unions, media and new generations;
  
• the direct engagement of external and internal stakeholders, carried out via an online survey aimed at evaluating the topics and the respective areas of impact emerging from the documental analysis; the conducting of two multi-stakeholder focus groups - one at business level and the other at corporate level – during which the impacts associated with the issues considered in the survey were discussed and examined; and the conducting of 17 one-to-one interviews targeted above all at institutional stakeholders;
  
• the direct involvement of the Group’s managers, via compilation of the survey and a dedicated meeting with the participation of 36 company leaders. The latter, following the presentation of the main results that emerged from the multi-stakeholder consultation, assessed the relevance of the proposed topics, highlighting their criticalities and the opportunities established for the Group.
  

Downstream of the focus groups, the results were analysed and the outputs elaborated, making it possible to build the materiality matrix and list the material issues and associated impacts, as perceived by the stakeholders.