Ferrero Group is 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.
This progress is documented in the Group’s 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
- Empowering people.
The Sustainability Report follows the publication of the Group’s first Human Rights Report, addressing work on the most salient human rights issues across the value chain.
Giovanni Ferrero, Executive Chairman of the Ferrero Group, is proud that the business was able to remain on track with its sustainability targets, despite the disruptions brought about by Covid.
“The pandemic created global social and economic disruption that varied from country to country. 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,” he says.
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 per cent over the last year.
The Group has set out further ambitious packaging sustainability targets, including the reduction of virgin plastic by 10 per cent and the increase of recycled content in plastic packaging to 12 per cent by 2025.
Renewable energy sourcing is transitioning rapidly with 84 per cent of the electricity purchased for manufacturing plants now coming from renewable sources and 16 of the firm’s plants running on 100 per cent renewable electricity.
Ferrero has also reached its sourcing target of 100 per cent of cane sugar certified by Bonsucro. And Ferrero reports traceability back to farm level across more than 95 per cent of its cocoa supply volume.
The Group has also delivered training to more than 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.
Lapo Civiletti, Chief Executive Officer of the Ferrero Group, said sustainability objectives have been substantially advanced.
“We increased our energy efficiency and confirmed a central capital-expenditure programme 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.”