World Confectionery Conference exclusive: Behind the scenes at Ferrero’s key Luxembourg HQ
Francesco Tramontin offers a key preview for our World Confectionery Conference, with a tour of its Luxembourg HQ. Pics: Neill Barston.
Located close to a UNESCO world heritage site, Ferrero’s headquarters in Luxembourg certainly are a marker for its notable ambitions. Neill Barston meets Francesco Tramontin, its vice president for EU institutional relations and group public policy, ahead of his World Confectionery Conference presentation.
Setting foot inside the golden doors of Casa Ferrero, it’s clear you are entering somewhere boasting a grand design reflecting the ambitions of what is an ever-growing global confectionery powerhouse.
The glass fronted company headquarters’ strategic location a short distance from Luxembourg airport is just short of its fifth birthday, and exudes a sense of confidence befitting its pivotal place among the top five chocolate businesses in the world.
These pristine walls are where many of its critical policy decisions are made, and play host to 1,500 employees across its corporate and administrative heart, made up of more than 50 nationalities.
Notably, with a global turnover of €17 billion, the company is expanding its operations notably on a global level, though Europe remains very much at the core of the company, with its HQ sitting a short distance from Luxembourg’s striking old quarters and fortifications which hold a UNESCO World Heritage status.
As for Casa Ferrero itself, the company’s founding family who set the business in motion more than 70 years ago will surely be particularly proud of one of the building’s most notable features – its distinctive central glass-roofed piazza, instilled with a design that pays homage to a classic Italian square reminiscent of its founding site at Piedmont, Alba. (See our exclusive conference preview interview with Francesco Tramontin below). Registration for this year’s World Confectionery Conference on 12 September remains open at www.confectioneryconference.com
From its comparatively humble origins operating from a small confectionery store, its ever-evolving journey over the past seven decades has seen it rise to become an enterprise employing over 47,000 people in over 170 countries.
Overall, its recently installed shiny new HQ which ranges across twelve floors (including space below ground), houses its own lecture theatre, conference facilities and restaurants which have all been instilled with a high level of finish, reflecting characteristics of the company’s heritage.
It’s little surprise to learn the building earned itself a coveted architectural award for the quality of its office design, which is more than apparent as we make our way through its busy floors that place an emphasis on open plan working.
Moreover, the heritage theme which extends throughout its expansive 75,000m2 overall space to other notable details, including the traditional cobble effect of the floors on its lifts, through to the classic Fiat delivery van proudly taking pride of place in the building’s core meeting area featuring its own bustling Ferrero café.
There are other quirks that stand out noticeably, including its swipe card entry systems which amusingly keep you guessing a little as to whether they will actually let you pass into the hallowed halls of the business. There’s a genuine buzz and vibrancy here within its corporate nerve centre, which fortunately managed to open its doors at the end of 2019, just ahead of Covid-19 that saw an unprecedented disruption to international working patterns, which are now thankfully operating something like normal.
Event’s Belgian return
Its suitably Italian-styled central coffee shop is an appropriately fine location for meeting Francesco Tramontin, the company’s vice president for EU Institutional Relations and group public policy.
As a senior figure within the business, he is returning as a keynote speaker at our World Confectionery Conference on 12 September, discussing some of the firm’s major sustainability tests and how it is playing its part in encouraging the industry to raise its collective operating standards.
Freshly arrived from his home in Brussels which forms the backdrop of this year’s event, Francesco offers an engaging take on some of the major topics facing the company and wider industry, namely the raft of European legislation including the EUDR deforestation regulations, which are anticipated to have a game-changing impact upon human rights provision and environmental protections.
These are the defining industry tests of our age, in how the sector collectively tackles climate change affecting agricultural output, delivering a living wage for workers in the sector, and ensuring that sustainable sourcing continues to drive down child labour that prevails within the cocoa sector. Notably, the business retains a consistent record on its approach to addressing these core major tests of the sector – emerging positively in recent WWF sustainability monitoring as being among the best performing in its operations. Crucially, the business is far from resting on its laurels though, as the very future of the sector’s cocoa supply chain remains at stake in terms of its overall ability to collectively raise its attainment levels in supporting the entire value chain of production.
On a personal note, as Francesco observes, being of Italian origin himself, gaining the chance to join Ferrero nearly three years ago was akin ‘to being called up to the national team,’ which was an opportunity too good to miss.
Moreover, it is affording him the chance to continue his work in relation to vital sustainability themes that he’s played his part in over the years working across the industry, including previous roles within Mondelez and Cargill.
“It’s great to be back again for the conference, as it’s so diverse in terms of the crowd that gathers for it, from people with a more technical background to those on the policy side. So, we get to talk about the sector in 360 degrees, which is something that is truly unique. There are not enough places to have these conversations about the confectionery industry and they are much needed,” enthuses Francesco, who will also be joined in his presentation by colleague Thomas Chatenier, responsible for as the company’s Nutella brand, which this autumn celebrates a momentous 60 years in industry.
While continuing to evolve its key ranges that include a host of flagship names such as Rocher, Kinder, Tic Tac, and its recent Ferrero chocolate bars, the company also places huge stock in ensuring its trade policies are the most fair, robust and considerate of supply chains as being integral to its operations.
On that note, we turn our conversation to Ferrero’s recent 15th sustainability report which reveals its progress against sourcing transparency, attaining near complete satellite mapping of its supply chains.
“The report shows great progress for the company, having provided longstanding investment that starts from those Italian roots of a family company, with its care about ingredients and products. This has translated today into its sustainability strategy with responsible sourcing and the unique packaging of our products.
“So we are progressing well in responding to the challenges and opportunities we see out there with those buying our products, as well as regulators.”
EUDR legislation reaction
As we continue to cover in our pages, 2024 appears to be very much ‘the year of EUDR’ legislation that have been drawing major global attention for their potential in raising the bar for deforestation and supply chain rights protection.
It’s a topic Francesco understandably has plenty to say on, and while he concedes ‘there’s still a lot of work to do,’ he notes there’s something of an industry-wide race to meet the starting date for this landmark framework in December this year, with notable industry concerns emerging.
“Ferrero has been supportive of the legislation, which responds to some of the needs we see now in our value chain. We are very well advanced with ingredients covered by the regulations, such as cocoa, palm oil in terms of traceability, which is the foundation of this legislation.
“So, now it is looking at implementation. It’s been challenging to a certain extent, but we think it definitely can be done, but there’s definitely gaps to fill in terms of how it is going to be controlled through capacity building in producing nations, as well as importing countries. Those technical topics can be overcome if there is the political will to do so,” adds Francesco, who asserts that the company stands ready to act.
While he notes there may potentially be some delay surrounding its delivery, this should relate to specific areas of delivering the mammoth legislation framework, which observers are anticipating will prove a major global blueprint for best practice.
As previously reported, the scheme is broadly welcomed by the sector, with a large proportion of European nations and corporations in favour of introducing the legislation that has already been agreed. But questions remain over who bears the cost of monitoring and implementation, with farming communities fearing that additional fees and time meeting the new standards will become a burden upon them, which Ferrero’s EU policy specialist asserts should be avoided in its delivery.
Furthermore, by all accounts, there’s plenty at stake with this major new legislation and its related frameworks on diligence laws going through the European Parliament that could potentially herald
a new era of significant gains for ethical sourcing and protecting the rights of agricultural workers in particular.
“Pragmatism will be very important to these pieces of legislation, including working with other stakeholders and public administration in order to make things happen. If technical elements of this become politicised, then that’s obviously very dangerous for the principle itself.
“In relation to due diligence laws, this provides us with a common lens to look at those things and a common way to look at those risks. So, it’s part of the picture, and such impactful legislation needs to kick in is in producing countries.
“Take the example of cocoa, you need credible national standards in producing countries to enable farmers to have access to the new requirements and get access to the support they need for these type of things. I think that’s where the real game will be played in the coming years.”
Busy lives
As Francesco observes, commuting between Brussels, where he’s based, and working with Ferrero teams in the Belgian capital for part of the week, and heading to the company’s HQ across the border in Luxembourg ensures life is always busy.
In his EU relations role, he says that it’s the ‘pace of change’ which spurs him on, along with the chance to make a positive im- pact in helping shape internal and external polices that can make a genuine difference to communities around the world.
“Sustainability is a big passion of mine, and the future of it sits in the policy world,” he notes, observing that on a wider level his field is moving on from what he describes as an old style CSR beauty contest, and is much more about how it tackles challenges for wider environments and supply chains in a holistic manner. Significantly, he says that finding new ways to innovate and collaborate are critical to the future of the industry and success of supply chains, which he says makes his role ‘a unique project’ and one he especially cherishes.
In terms of quite how companies such as Ferrero, which assists an increasing number of farmers in West Africa, can scale up its operations even more, he says there are a number of steps to consider.
“It’s about the right policies inproducing countries. So it’s two things – we, as a buyer of cocoa, we need a common impact framework. That’s why I welcome certain types of legislation like due diligence, because it helps us create that framework.
“So, we all measure and kind of look at risk. It’s not a silver bullet, but it helps us look at our value chain in a harmonised manner.
“But then where real change needs to happen, it at the producing countries level with the right support. Some of the support needs to come by virtue of value chains like ours.
“There will be an investment on raising those standards, so the whole economic pact is built around the idea of creating some support for those farmers. I think we’ll start seeing change across the board
through these longstanding relationships,” he adds, noting that delivering on another key aspect of creating a living income for farmers is also of core significance in addressing the fact that many agricultural workers are struggling on below poverty line wages. He says there still remains work to be done in this regard, but feels the foundations are in place that can create positive changes.
Moreover, he says that in order for fundamental improvements to be delivered, the kinds of changes that are happening within Ferrero in regards to enhancing its supply processes, need to happen across the board with other leading manufacturers.
Personal passions
While grappling with some major tests surrounding sustainability occupies much of his time, Francesco acknowledges that finding time for personal activities is also important, and one of his great passions remains his love of music.
As he explains with a smile, he’s just attended a Taylor Swift concert in Milan with his daughters, earning him extra ‘dad points’ which he says was especially good, though it’s some way from his own tastes.
“My life starts with my family, and my daughters, and music – I have two bands, one of which is quiet, and the other louder, and it’s something I have done in my professional life as well, where I’ve been asked to play at events,” he recalls, before recounting a humorous professional occasion where he was called upon at short notice to fill in for a house-band, which he found particularly satisfying.
To his credit, he says it’s entirely possible to find a work life balance, and he feels fortunate to have travelled the world with his work. This includes having the chance to experience conditions on the ground at origin in West Africa.
As he recalls, it’s through such eye- opening opportunities that you can fully understand the complexities that bind the confectionery sector and its supply chains including the cocoa world.
“It’s a great sector that keeps on growing in spite of challenges, but it’s one that really transmits joy, and a willingness to go ahead, and never stops. The passion for my job is in the external policy element in dealing with all types of stakeholders and bridging the gaps, and help them understand what our business is about,” concludes Francesco of his varied work. He retains a commendable level of enthusiasm, drive and enjoyment that he’s keen to share with work friends and wider industry colleagues alike in helping shape a progressive future for our ever-evolving industries.
