‘A Better Plant Based Future’ ESG Report 2020 – A statement from our Group CEO
Through our passion for flavour and dedication to the planet, we are leading the way to a delicious, healthier and more sustainable future.
We are the future of food. We are Generation Plant.
Upfield’s Purpose to make people healthier and happier with nutritious and delicious, natural, plant based food that is good for you and for our planet has never mattered so much. Last year I said that this world health crisis would require the very best of all of us; to deliver to consumers and keep each other safe. The past 12 months have been filled with some of the biggest and most complex challenges many of us have faced in our lifetime. Covid-19 has had an impact on all of us. Now more than ever we have a responsibility to positively impact people’s lives; and to have a positive impact on the planet.
Our ESG strategy has our vision of ‘A Better Plant-Based Future’ at its core and is more than just a report. It is our blueprint for the coming years. It holds us accountable to a set of commitments that will guide our decision making, reflecting the kind of world we want to see. Put simply, our job is to innovate new products and develop categories that will support the transition of the global food system and accelerate the adoption of plant-based diets, because plant-based diets are both better for you and for the planet. The global population is growing and set to hit nearly 10 billion people by 2050. On top of that, our consumption of animal products has never been higher, affecting the health of the future population. Our world has finite resources, and if we continue to exploit them in the way we do today, the future will be bleak. This has to be the decade of action.
We plan to drive this change through the lens of our Purpose, with our strategy focused around four pillars: providing Plant-Based foods, to enable Healthier Lives and Happier People, and so to contribute to a Better Planet for all of us.
First and foremost; we are committed to producing 100% plant-based delicious foods that consumers love. As proud owners of some of the world’s most iconic brands including FLORA, RAMA, BLUEBAND, COUNTRY CROCK, PROACTIV, LÄTTA and VIOLIFE, we are already on tables and in kitchens and fridges across the world. We want to continue to help and encourage people to switch from dairy to plant based options by offering great tasting products taste and perform as well as, if not better, than their dairy counterparts. And we want to accelerate the adoption of plant-based diets by making sure that our products continue to be innovative and accessible, with the ambition of reaching one billion people globally by 2030. That means our affordable recipes need to continue to provide better nutrition and support healthier lifestyles. Blue Band, ProActiv and Becel are three of our global brands focused on positively impacting 200 million lives across the world by offering tasty and nutritionally beneficial options to consumers.
But we wouldn’t be able to drive this transition without people. Generation Plant are those who will help to execute against the global shift to plant-based and our ambitions. We recognise the power of collective action. As a global community of insurgents, innovators and foodies, we are focused on enabling a generation of plant-based entrepreneurs, farmers and chefs through programmes that drive change. And change starts from within. Internally we are focussed on ensuring an inclusive business that encourages people to come as they are and equips them with the tools to advocate for our vision of ‘A Better Pant Based Future’ in their day to day lives.
But I know we have to look beyond ourselves. The scale of the environmental challenges we face as a global population are so extreme that we need to take a critical look at our business to be better too.
That’s why we have set ourselves targets that are ambitious require innovation to solve and move us towards the preservation of our planet.
By their very nature, our products, have a lower climate impact when compared to their dairy counterparts – giving us all a clear Upside. We want consumers to be aware of the impact that choosing our products has on their own carbon footprint and that’s why we’re rolling our CO2 labelling across some of our biggest brands. But we want to go further and commit to better than net zero on carbon across our portfolio, and zero on waste. And we can do more to preserve nature. Historically our core products have always been synonymous with plastic tubs. However, plastic is one of the biggest environmental issues facing our planet and by committing to being 95% plastic free and having better packaging by 2030, we are addressing a big impact of ours in a serious way! And last but by no means least, we are focused on the ingredients that go into our products. We are committed to sourcing these ingredients in a way that preserves our planet for future generations to come.
As a business we will continue to let our vision of ‘A Better Plant-Based Future’ lead the way as we drive the transition from meat and dairy to 100% plant-based diets. We know we are facing vast and great challenges and there is more to do. A lot for Generation Plant to do together. But we wholeheartedly believe that the future of food is plant-based. And it tastes incredible.