Nestlé moves to deliver greater sustainable sourcing for travel retail ranges
pic: Nestle
Delivering sustainably sourced product ranges has been placed atop of Nestlé’s agenda for its travel retail ranges, as it rolls-out chocolate series linked to its Cocoa Plan partnership with the Rainforest Alliance, reports Neill Barston.
With summer months leading to heightened activity surrounding major global airports, the Swiss-headquartered company has honed its focus on engaging with delivering key progress on support for key supplier producing nations in West Africa and around the world.
As the company noted, a total of 71% of travellers have indicated that sustainability now influences their purchasing decisions, which has risen substantially over the past decade, as consumers become ever-more aware of the major challenges remaining on the sector in tackling deforestation, child labour and overall payment of farmers – with many still earning wages below globally-accepted poverty definition levels. Watch our Nestle York video on its sustainability plans below, including a tour of its flagship UK KitKat facilities.
Nestlé Sustainably Sourced chocolate has been developed using cocoa that is certified by the Rainforest Alliance. This sustainability program, established by Nestlé fifteen years ago, has engaged more than 170 000 families so far, building on three pillars: – better farming, aiming to improve livelihoods in communities; better lives, aiming to improve social conditions for families; and better cocoa, aiming to improve product sustainability.
Notably, Nestle confirmed its latest travel retail confectionery brand will be available in airports around the world. Travellers will be able to personalise their 170g and 280g bars by adding their own messages to the product sleeves. The campaign visuals will encourage customers to learn more about its drive to make continued progress against its sustainability goals.
Significantly, as the company, revealed, as part of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, over 1.2 million forest and fruit trees have so far been distributed to cocoa farmers. These trees help reduce the harsh effects of the sun and provide moisture-rich spaces for crops to survive during the dry season. In addition, nearly 20 000 hectares were pruned as part of the income accelerator program to improve crop productivity and reduce the prevalence of pests and diseases on cocoa farms.
However, as Confectionery Production has previously reported, the scale of challenges facing the sector in West Africa in particular, remain notably huge. The last available official data has suggested more than 1.5 million children remain exposed to the worst forms of child labour – including using machetes for cocoa harvesting, heavy labour and spraying crop pesticides.
According to research from Fairtrade, post pandemic conditions have seen an ongoing crisis in Ghana and Ivory Coast due to the after-effects of the pandemic, as well as a financial crisis as the cost of agricultural inputs in terms of fertiliser have impacted crop yields, along with adverse weather conditions, and volatile price markets that have recently driven cocoa prices to around $10,000 a tonne on Futures markets in New York and London.
Despite such tests, Nestlé noted that it remains committed to scaling-up its actions on the ground. As reported this week, this has included its Income Accelerator programme supporting cocoa farmers through enhanced programmes at origin, and applied to its flagship lines including KitKat.
Consequently, the company believed that certification partnerships with the likes of Rainforest Alliance are a valuable part of its work, with the company anticipating to reach 160,000 farmers with its accelerator scheme.
“Through creative branding, we can provide transparency on the origin of the cocoa used in our chocolate,” commented Aura Sanchez, Head of Marketing at Nestlé Travel Retail. “It enables us to raise awareness about our longstanding commitments to supporting cocoa-farming families and the long-term sustainability of cocoa production.”
Furthermore, on its wider environmental measures, the company said that its confectionery brands such as Smarties, that have transitioned to paper packaging, Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa will also be available in a recyclable paper pouch.
