MAKING STRONG PROGRESS: FERRERO GROUP ON TRACK TO MEET KEY SUSTAINABILITY TARGETS

Lithgow-based factory announces solar power project’s stage 2 completion, electrifying equipment aims to reduce gas consumption by 50%

Ferrero Group has announced it is on track to meet its key sustainability objectives and targets. Ferrero’s progress is documented in the Group’s 14th Sustainability Report, which highlights the steps taken during the 2021/22 financial year on four key pillars: protecting the environment, sustainable sourcing, promoting responsible consumption and empowering people.

“The financial year was particularly challenging - war broke out, supply chains were disrupted, energy costs surged, and inflation grew alongside the cost of raw materials,” said Giovanni Ferrero, Executive Chairman of the Ferrero Group. “In the face of these challenges, Ferrero has not only been able to grow, but to also make strong progress with a number of our sustainability targets – and, in some instances, exceed them,” he added.

Highlights from the Ferrero Group’s Sustainability Progress Report include:

• 92% of the company’s global electricity now comes from renewables – up from 84% last year.
• 100% of palm oil is RSPO certified segregated, with 99.95% traceable to 146 palm oil mills and 722 plantations. The segregation model ensures sustainable palm oil is kept separate from the plantations and farms, and all the way along the supply chain, with the Group being one of the first global companies to source 100% RSPO certified segregated palm oil (since 2015).
• The publishing of the company’s first Human Rights Report at the end of 2021. The report is framed around 10 of the most salient human rights issues across all value chains – regardless of product or geography – and shows how Ferrero is working to address these issues.  
• Completed Ferrero’s first four-year Cocoa and Forest Initiative (CFI) action plan, achieving or even surpassing the majority of targets set in 2018. E.g., around 82% of the entire cocoa volume in 201/22 was from its dedicated farmer groups, with more than 170,000 farmers now enlisted in the Ferrero Cocoa Program, exceeding the initial target of 153,000. Of these, 161,000 (95%) of farmers were polygon mapped in 2021/22.
• As part of Ferrero Farming Values (FFV), a cross-commodity framework, the FFV program helped deliver one-to-one coaching to 32% of cocoa farmers on farm and business planning, whilst 155,000 cocoa farmers took part in group training.
• The Group is now reaching traceability back to farm level across more than 96% of its cocoa supply volume. 82% of the entire cocoa volume was sourced from dedicated farmer groups Ferrero supports. Across all sourced hazelnuts, the Group can report overall traceability of 79% despite systemic supply-chain complexities.
• Continued working on Ferrero’s target of designing 100% of its packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable, across four main areas of action: R&D and open innovation, existing packaging development and design, working with recyclers and national waste-management systems, and educating consumers.

In Australia:
 

• Ferrero’s gold status membership has been reaccredited in the NSW’s Government’s Sustainability Advantage Recognition Scheme for the tenth consecutive year.
• Ferrero Australia is becoming a supporter of the National Packaging & Recycling Scheme (NPRS) from June 2023. The NPRS is Australia’s largest industry-led plastics recycling scheme, which aims to take hard-to-recycle soft plastic packaging out of waste streams and giving it new life.
• Ferrero's Lithgow-based factory, producing Nutella, has made progress towards its ambitious sustainability goals. The factory has now completed stage 2 of its solar panel installation, with panels across 75% of its roof, and generates around 20% of the factory’s overall energy consumption.
• The factory is minimising water usage and aiming to purify and reuse 100% of water used in the industrial process over the next seven years. Since 2021, water consumption has been reduced by 30%.
• The company is also aiming to reduce C02 emissions by 1.5% year on year by utilising green energy from the grid and electrifying equipment which is aimed to cut gas consumption by 50 per cent. 

Read more about Ferrero’s Sustainability Report here.