Mondelēz International releases its 2020 Snacking Made Right sustainability report
Delivering on sustainability targets has become increasingly significant for many key businesses within the cocoa and confectionery sector, including Mondelēz International, which has just released its latest Snacking Made Right 2020 report on its core areas of progress. Neill Barston examines its results
Mondelēz International’s Snacking Made Right Report, has revealed key details of its achievements against its ESG targets (environmental, social and governance), including making gains on sustainable sourcing, water efficiency, and reduced waste across its global operations.
As the company, which is behind Cadbury, Oreo, Milka chocolate, Toblerone and Belvita, acknowledged, it has set itself ambitious targets for 2025, which it stated have focused on areas of the business that it believes can drive the most significant potential change.
Following on from its last review in 2019, which came in response to ongoing health concerns surrounding obesity and health of consumers, as well as commercial impact of its global activities, the company has continues a positive pattern of improvement against its targets.
Perhaps key among them is the confirmation that 68% of cocoa volume is now sourced sustainably via its signature sourcing program Cocoa Life (an improvement of 5% in the past year), as well as 98% palm oil sourced from suppliers aligned to MDLZ’s 2020 Palm Oil Action Plan.
Significantly, it has attained a 20+% reduction in CO2 from manufacturing, exceeding the target of 15%, which remains an ongoing process for the business, and another prime area of focus for the firm.
As the company noted, its approach to ESG enables it to build a sustainable snacking company and deliver lasting change at scale by prioritising where it can have the greatest impact, focusing on innovative and measurable solutions, and collaborating to drive sector-wide transformation.
ESG is one of Mondelēz International’s long-term value drivers, is integrated throughout the business strategy and is core to its purpose – to empower people to snack right by delivering the right snack, at the right moment, made the right way.
“Snacking Made Right is part of everything we do at Mondelēz International. It drives us to take care of our people, to protect our resources, and provide moments of comfort and connection for our consumers around the world” said Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International.
“Last year our purpose was more important than ever and pushed us to continue to advance our ESG commitments and expand our robust goals. We remain focused on building a sustainable snacking company, minimising our impact on the environment while being a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and transparent organisation, and we are dedicated to accelerating our efforts to lead the future of snacking.”
The company added that its continuous efforts to deliver positive change have led to what it considered as being significant, business-impacting results, such as enhanced sustainable sourcing programmes, significant emissions and waste reductions and stronger connections with consumers and customers.
During the past year, the company made meaningful progress against its sustainability and well-being goals and exceeded multiple targets.
In addition to its sourcing and waste reduction, it has also achieved 30+% reduction in priority water usage, exceeding the target of 10%, 30+% reduction in total waste from manufacturing, exceeding the target of 20%, as well as 94% of its packaging designed to be recyclable.
Regarding wellbeing, a total of 16% of its revenues are now from portion controlled snacks – which remains the company’s key means of addressing obesity rather than offering specifically sugar-reduced confectionery (with notable exceptions including the 30% less sugar Cadbury Dairy Milk bars.
The company has also established its Sustainable Futures platform to amplify long-term positive impact for people and the planet through innovative social investment and partnerships. It has delivered more than $30 million globally for COVID-19 relief efforts, including a recent $2 million donation to support India’s fight against the pandemic.
Furthermore, the US-headquartered business said it is stepping up its commitments to diversity, equity & inclusion and enhancing disclosure around progress in this space.
In 2020, the company announced robust commitments, including spending $1 billion with women- and minority-owned businesses annually and doubling U.S. Black representation in management by 2024, while also appointing its first Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. For the first time this year ,it also publishes its EEO-1 consolidated and full filings while continuing to adopt and publish annual SASB & TCFD alignment indices as part of an ongoing commitment to expanded disclosure and transparency.
2025 environmental goals
Moreover, the Snacking Made Right report also reaffirms the company’s 2025 environmental goals, including:
· Cocoa – 100% of cocoa volume for chocolate brands sourced through MDLZ’s signature sustainable sourcing program, Cocoa Life,
Carbon -10% reduction in science-based, end-to-end C02 emissions
· Packaging 100% of packaging designed to be recyclable and labeled with recycling information, and 25% reduction in the use of virgin rigid plastic
“We have a clear and distinctive approach to sustainability, one that is aligned to our business strategy and informed by our understanding of the issues that are most material to us as a business,” said Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President and Chief of Global Impact and Sustainability at Mondelēz International.
“Moving forward, we will continue to target our efforts, prioritising where we can have the greatest impact, tackling root causes, measuring our progress and investing in scalable solutions, while remaining flexible and open to new ideas so we can drive lasting and meaningful change at scale.” For more information on the company’s progress, the report can be read in full here.
