Gone are the days when companies kept their sustainability investments a secret for fear of being accused of spending shareholders’ money. Nestlé’s proud commitment to invest $487 million in supply chain sustainability is a brilliant testimony of this.
The business case for sustainability investment is now well established, and the recent controversial Wall Street Journal article on the case against sustainability will not change this. Many companies are now reporting on their investments, as well as their return on investments. Various research studies have identified a link between sustainability performance and overall business results.
With the Nescafé Plan initiative, Nestlé is taking this “business case” logic a step further. It is demonstrating that the sustainability of a company’s suppliers is equally as important in as the company’s own practices, and worth investing in. By doing so it is following the steps of responsible sourcing leaders, and progressively transforming its whole value chain, making it more efficient and ready for tomorrow’s resource constrained world.
Myriam is a consultant at Corporate Citizenship. Email her at Myriam.galopin@corporate-citizenship.com to discuss campaigns, responsible sourcing and community investment.
Coca Cola rewards supplier excellence
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has granted its first ever Supplier Excellence Award for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability to Orion Energy Systems. According to CCE, the award recognizes a CCE supplier that ‘has consistently demonstrated the values and commitment to excellence that we as an organisation (and our customers) demand’. Orion Energy Systems is a power technology enterprise that designs and manufactures energy management systems. Since 2001, Orion technology has displaced more than 551 megawatts, saving customers more than $935 million and reducing indirect carbon dioxide emissions by 8 million tons. By utilising Orion’s energy-saving technology, CCE is preventing more than 125,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every year.
Nestlé to spend $487 million on sustainable coffee supply chain
Nestlé has announced the investment of CHF 500 million (approximately $487 million) to address responsible farming, sourcing and consumption across its coffee supply chain. The company’s Nescafé Plan is a global initiative that builds on the CHF 200 million (approximately $195 million) the company has already invested in the coffee industry over the past 10 years. Under the plan, Nestle will double the amount of coffee it buys directly from farmers to 180,000 tonnes over the next five years, as well as distributing 220 million high-yield, disease-resistant coffee plants to farmers by 2020. Other partners, including the Rainforest Alliance, will support Nestlé in meeting the Nescafé Plan objectives related to farming.
Some of the biggest names on the British high street are at the centre of a major sweatshop scandal after an Observer investigation found staff at their Indian suppliers working up to 16 hours a day, often paid at only half the legal overtime rate. Marks & Spencer, Gap and Next have all launched their own inquiries into the abuses and pledged to end the practice of excessive overtime, which is in breach of both the industry’s ethical trading initiative (ETI) and Indian labour law. The Observer investigation found the factories were using workers hired through middlemen who paid them as little as 25p an hour, in the case of Gap and Next, and 26p an hour for M&S.
The Procter & Gamble Company has announced plans to use renewable, sustainable, sugarcane-derived plastic on selected packaging on its Pantene Pro-V, Covergirl and Max Factor brands. The new material is made through an innovative process which transforms sugarcane into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic, a type commonly used for product packaging. It remains 100% recyclable in existing municipal recycling facilities. P&G will source the sugarcane-derived plastic from Braskem SA, who manufactures the material using ethanol made from sustainably-grown Brazilian sugarcane. The pilot will be rolled out globally over the next 2 years, with the first products expected to be on sale in 2011.
As part of its Positive Steps corporate responsibility programme, Burger King Corp has announced that it will no longer buy palm oil from Sinar Mas or its subsidiaries. This follows the release of an independent audit by Control Union Certification and BSI Group, which raised concerns about some of the sustainability practices of Sinar Mas’ palm oil production and its impact on rainforest in Borneo and Sumatra. Burger King will also notify its suppliers of its intent to discontinue the use of palm oil supplied by Sinar Mas in the manufacturing of Burger King products. In a statement, SMART, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas, expressed its disappointment at the decision, and reaffirmed its commitment to alleviating poverty in Indonesia.
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