Ferrero Group is said to be on track to meet its “ambitious” sustainability goals, including a switch to renewable energy across its manufacturing plants and progress towards targets on sourcing and packaging.
The company’s progress is documented in its 13th ‘Sustainability Report’, which highlights the steps taken towards environmental and social targets during 2021 aligned to four key areas of focus: protecting the environment, sourcing ingredients sustainably, promoting responsible consumption and empowering people. The report follows the publication of Ferrero’s first ‘Human Rights Report’, addressing work on the most salient human rights issues across the value chain.
“The pandemic created global social and economic disruption that varied from country to country,” says Ferrero Group Executive Chairman Giovanni Ferrero.
“However, as a business we were able to demonstrate resilience and the solid progress of our sustainability plans has not been affected, as you will read. In addition, our business continues to expand, both through new acquisitions and through organic growth.”
Ferrero pinpoints several highlights from the ‘Sustainability Report’:
- Ferrero is on track to meet its 2025 target of 100 per cent of packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable, reaching a high of 83% over the last year.
- The Group sets out further “ambitious” packaging sustainability targets, including the reduction of virgin plastic by 10% and the increase of recycled content in plastic packaging to 12% by 2025.
- Renewable energy sourcing is transitioning “rapidly” with 84% of the electricity purchased for manufacturing plants now coming from renewable sources and 16 of the firm’s plants running on 100% renewable electricity.
- Ferrero has reached its sourcing target of 100% of cane sugar certified by Bonsucro.
- Ferrero also reports traceability back to farm level across more than 95% of its cocoa supply volume.
- The Group delivered training to over 134,000 farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, with the aim of promoting responsible agricultural practices in key cocoa growing regions as part of Ferrero’s on-the-ground engagement with partner farmers.
“As you will see throughout this report, we have substantially advanced many aspects of our sustainability strategy towards the objectives we set ourselves,” says Ferrero Group CEO Lapo Civiletti.
“We increased our energy efficiency and confirmed a central capital-expenditure program aimed at reducing our carbon footprint and achieved many improvements in our packaging portfolio, in line with our sustainability roadmap to 2025.
“In raw-material supply chains, we published or updated our Cocoa Charter, Palm Oil Charter and Hazelnut Charter, aiming for production that creates value for all in each respective industry.”