FrieslandCampina Ingredients looks into the next decade of sustainability in nutritious NPD
24 Feb 2021 | FrieslandCampina Ingredients
FrieslandCampina Ingredients executives Timo Faber and Sjoerd van Sprang detail progress made on the company’s ten-year sustainability strategy: Nourishing a Better Planet. The duo highlight specific targets within this campaign while explaining how each will be measured. From an ingredients perspective, they explore how this new strategy fits with and supports customers’ own sustainability ambitions.
This is Benjamin Ferreir on behalf of Food Ingredients First.
I'm joined here today by representatives of Friesland Campina who are here to share details on their 10 year sustainability campaign.
Our speakers today are Timo Faber, global marketing lead, Natural Early life Nutrition and Sjoord Wang Sprung, sustainability and innovation communication Manager, Global Corporate communications.
Hi, both.
Hi there, Benjamin.
Hi Benjamin.
For our first question, what are the specific targets in your sustainability campaign and how will they be measured?
Benjamin, thanks for asking.
As you might know that, Fries and Copina is part of a dairy cooperative with member farmers.
So a very large part of our value chain also lies within, our company and cooperative, and, we call that the, the grass to glass, chain.
So if we look at our sustainability program, nourishing a better planet, it consists it's about 6 priorities and the 6 priorities are, yeah, it's about better nutrition, affordable for everyone.
It's about a better living for farmers, so that's, not only our member farmers but also farmers across the world we reach.
It's about a better climate, that's it's carbon neutral future, so that's, that's part of the goals.
The fourth one is better nature, improving biodiversity.
We want to have a, a positive biodiversity impact.
The 5th is about better packaging, 100% circular, and we also try to have that carbon neutral and the sixth is about better sourcing, 100% responsible.
So that's quite a lot already, so those are 6 priorities we have.
We will measure each of them with the respective monitors we have and that are available internationally like , we have our own carbon footprint monitor, with which we measure every individual, member farmer on, on their carbon footprint.
We have a biodiversity monitor and all kinds of, , monitors, like that we use to continuously measure where we are and how we can move, move on.
If we look at, , Friesland Campina ingredients, as one of the business groups of Friesland Campina, I would like to hand over to Timo what their, what their focus areas are, unless you already have a question in between, Benjamin, if I can clarify myself more.
I think it's all right to move on, with the, with the insights.
Yes, thank you, Stuart.
Yeah, so, as Stu mentioned, , free and Cobina sustainability program has 6 priorities, and 3 of those are, most relevant for the, ingredient business.
And these are, , a better climate and, the better nature and better sourcing.
And, for example, a better climate.
We want to be carbon, net carbon neutral in 2050, but even before that, we already have a, have a, have a target on, reducing, our greenhouse gasses, by almost one third, actually by one third, and, we do this by reduction on farm as as a reduction in our, , production facilities and the transport to and from production facilities.
And, a second, better sourcing, , with better sourcing, we aim to, have a fully sustainable sourcing by 2025 and also have it at 92% traceable by the same date.
And then when it comes to better nature.
There, as you mentioned, we actually want to have a net increase of biodiversity by 2020, by 2050.
And there we also see a close link to, , to, , better, better climate.
That's because of, with, with nature also absorbs, is a kind of a form to, sequester carbon, in, in nature, a better biodiversity helps with that.
So that's , since it also helps us to reach our better climate climate target.
If I may add to that shortly because that is not easy to understand for everyone.
It it's not the only thing that we are looking at how can we continuously reduce our emissions.
It's also about how can we make sure that if there the emissions that there are, that there is a good sort of uptake of that and if we are also making a stronger biodiversity and, and a stronger soil and the soil is then healthier and better able to uptake that emission, then we are winning on both fronts.
So that's where better nature, improving biodiversity and better climate, carbon neutral future, yeah, connects.
Yes, and in these targets, what sort of third party assessments are involved in measuring your progress?
Yeah, so, so first of all, we have a, , actually we, we report, we have an integrated sustainability report, but that does not only contains, , our annual report does not only contains our financial numbers but also the progress that we make on, on sustainability.
And a report that is externally audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
And also for example, when it comes to carbon, and we report to the Carbon Disclosure Project.
But we feel, first of all, sustainability, it's, it contains a wide variety of, topics, and it's much more than third-party assessments.
So we also want to, on a continuous basis, want to measure our progress, on sustainability ourselves, and even on a farm level.
So for example, we developed an app for farmers where they can Track their carbon footprint, and also we learn them how to, improve the carbon footprint, , along the way.
And also, for example, when it comes to biodiversity, it's a very wide, , subject, wide topic.
But we developed together with Rabobank and the World Wildlife Fund, we developed a monitor, a biodiversity monitor to actually measure the improvement on the, on farm and this approach is quite, quite unique, and helps us to make the steps that we really aim for.
And with, with your unique and ambitious targets, what are some of the most challenging aspects of of reinforcing your sustainability model?
Yeah, There are many of course because it's so much to do and the way we actually see it as, as, as I just mentioned if we look at ourselves as, as, Fries and Campino, I work for a company, part of the cooperative and that's such a large part of our chain lies actually within our ownership, so to say.
It, it, it, it means that if, we set goals and targets, those are the goals and targets we have to reach.
It's not something someone else, has to then accomplish, and, those goals and targets we set, we don't see them as, let's say stand-alone pillars, they are all integrated with each other, just like I mentioned that, how biodiversity is, is linking to, to, to, to climate, for instance, and that we are not only looking at And OK, what does that do in where we are mainly active in the Netherlands but also how does it impact other regions in the world that integrated approach and setting our targets for ourselves to really make a move there.
I think those are really important, , those are challenges there and one of the things to really make it possible is, the way we see it is to really closely work together with all kinds of relevant other parties, from NGOs to, , to a governmental organizations but also our customers and the only way to really realize that if, is if we invest in it, all of us for the long term because in the end, the farmers making the great food that we did, , that, that we need, in a more sustainable way, they have to be, it has to be possible for them to, to invest in that, so to , make it financially viable for them to continuously be a more sustainable farmer.
Those elements to us are quite challenging, but we believe we can and we must do it.
Very said, Sean.
From an ingredients perspective, how does this new strategy fit with and support your customers' own sustainability and ambitions?
Yes, actually there are 22 reasons.
One is that, also our customers, they have ambitious targets on, on sustainability, especially when it comes to, a reduction of carbon footprint.
They have, and they have so-called targets on insetting.
Which means that they need to find a reduction in the value chain.
And, take a tin of infant formula, for example.
When you look at the footprint of that formula, 60% of the footprint can come from, dairy ingredients.
It depends on which country you, you source from.
So that means that we are closely connected and dependent, on each other on this topic.
And that's why we also collaborate together on carbon reduction projects.
On an individual basis and we also learn from our customers, , when it comes to, , methodologies and vice versa.
And so that's, that's one item why it's so relevant to collaborate, on this topic.
And the other reason, and that's maybe because there's a, a clear driver coming from from consumers.
When it comes to infant nutrition, obviously, infant, , breast milk.
Is the, preferred option.
But when parents, choose for infant formula, they choose, dairy-based infant formula for their nutritionist, nutritional characteristics, but also, , for their, for the sensory properties.
But the parents ask themselves more and more, OK, and what is the environmental impact of this, product that I'm taking?
And for example, we have, we have conducted a survey and, there we learned that, globally, 64% of parents with young kids, they are concerned about the environment and 40% of those, parents, they, , they actually are interested, and want to know the impact of the products they buy.
And we see our customers responding to that with, with the tools, for example, with QR codes where you can trace back, the ingredients, to farm level and also see the, The, the footprint and for example, what we also now see coming across is, is carbon neutral claims and all these tools and claims that they really need to be backed up by, by, by data that is, that can be trusted.
