Ferrero goes green

23 June – Ferrero is preparing to go green and will aim for a 17% carbon emissions reduction in three years.

According to Reuters, Ferrero will reduce energy consumption by 19-20% by 2013 compared to 2007 levels, while increasing high-efficiency energy by 50%. “The group is continuously involved in improving its industrial processes in order to make them more eco-friendly," the company says in a report released on 22 June.

Ferrero also plans to increase the use of recyclable materials in packaging by up to 10% and derive 20% of its own energy production from renewable sources. It has built a co-generation plant in the northwestern Italian town of Alba, where it has its home base, which also supplies power to more than 800 families.

On the sustainability front, the group reinvests part of resources to social initiatives in Cameroon, South Africa and India and is looking to have 100% of its cocoa and palm oil supply sustainable in the long term.

The company is notoriously media-shy and has not made a single acquisition in over 60 years. Despite this, is it worth €6 billion and employ more than 20,000 people.