Ferrero Group says it is on track to meet its sustainability goals, including progress toward targets on sourcing and packaging.

Progress is documented in the group’s 13th Sustainability Report, which highlights the steps taken toward environmental and social targets during 2021 aligned to four key areas of focus: protecting the environment, sourcing ingredients sustainably, promoting responsible consumption and 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.

“The pandemic created global social and economic disruption that varied from country to country,” said Giovvani Ferrero, executive chairman of the Ferrero Group. “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.”

Highlights from the 2021 Sustainability Progress Report include:

• Ferrero is on track to meet its 2025 target of 100 percent of packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable, reaching a high of 83 percent over the last year
• The group aims to reduce virgin plastic by 10 percent and the increase of recycled content in plastic packaging to 12 percent by 2025
• 84 percent of the electricity purchased for manufacturing plants now come from renewable sources and 16 of the firm’s plants running on 100 percent renewable electricity
• Ferrero has reached its sourcing target of 100 percent of cane sugar certified by Bonsucro
• Ferrero reports traceability back to farm level across more than 95 percent of its cocoa supply volume
• The group 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

“As you will see throughout this report, we have substantially advanced many aspects of our sustainability strategy towards the objectives we set ourselves,” said Lapo Civiletti, CEO of the Ferrero Group. “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.”