How leading companies, NGOs and solution providers are working to address the myriad issues that can arise in any supply chain.
The recent announcement by McDonald's, which outlines its approach to combatting deforestation across its main commodity supply chains, is perhaps the most comprehensive environmental commitment of any major restaurant group. It sets an example for all global organisations in how they should be ensuring sustainability throughout their supply chains, and reflects how a Zero Deforestation agenda is becoming the new normal for international business.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed new fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.I spoke with Jason Mathers of the Environmental Defense Fund to find out how these new regulations affect U.S. brands. Jason leads EDF’s Green Freight initiative, which works with consumer product companies and large fleets to reduce the environmental impact of product distribution in the U.S.
Today, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) released a new progress report, titled Testing Commitments to Cut Conflict Palm Oil, ranking the relative strength of palm oil commitments made since the launch of its Snack Food 20 campaign two years ago. The 2015 progress report shines a spotlight on the laggards in the Snack Food 20 and outlines the actions that these companies — as well as the frontrunners who are pushing ahead on their commitments — can and must take to rapidly cut Conflict Palm Oil from our food system.
For one of the last breakout sessions of the week, Tom Smith, Acting General Manager at Sedex; Vincent Kneefel, Manager of the United Nations Global Compact; and Christina Gossmann, Marketing Manager at Digital Divide Data (DDD) sat down to discuss the business applications for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This afternoon panel on Wednesday, day three of SB '15 San Diego, offered a unique opportunity to hear from a diverse group of companies, both large and small, national and global, spanning several industries, and with different degrees of complexity in their supply chains. With the help of moderator Bonnie Nixon, former supply chain sustainability for companies such as HP and Mattel, the group offered insights into several potential trends:
As I settled in to the back right corner of the Mission Bay room for a Tuesday afternoon breakout session on Supply Chain Performance, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. All of my previous panels at SB ‘15 San Diego had focused on consumer or employee engagement, so I was bracing myself for much drier dialogue.
Meeting your sustainability goals requires partners whose own policies and practices support you in hitting your targets. Printers are the gatekeepers to the eco-qualities of your paper products — be it your annual report or latest marketing materials. The Blueline Report 2015, published by international environmental not-for-profit Canopy, ranks North America’s major printers on a set of 29 sustainability criteria. It is the tool to help you discern if your printer is an environmental leader or just slick at green marketing.
On Monday, Bangladeshi police charged 41 people, including the owner of the Rana Plaza complex, with murder over the 2013 factory collapse that killed more than 1,100 people.
Today, institutional investors representing more than $4 trillion in assets are joining Mars, PepsiCo, Kellogg Company and a dozen other giants from the food/beverage and personal care industries to call on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to strengthen its standards for certifying the sustainable production of palm oil. Palm oil is found in an estimated 50 percent of all packaged goods, from cosmetics to candy.
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) today announced it is available to help companies navigate compliance with the pending conflict minerals legislation recently voted on by the European Parliament.In addition, the CFSI says it is adopting a risk-based approach to its audit program to bolster audits of smelters and refiners of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold worldwide.The draft EU legislation on conflict minerals requires importers and processors of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold to self-certify via independent, third-party due diligence audits of smelters and refiners that their products do not directly or indirectly finance conflict and serious human rights abuses.
Despite recent commitments to deforestation-free palm oil by several well-known brands and producers, many companies are delaying implementation of these commitments. Commitments are just the first step; the implementation stage is where companies can really start to make a difference – and both conservation groups and the investor community are voicing their dissatisfaction and concern about the lack of follow-through from companies including McDonald's and Bunge Limited.
Starbucks has become the latest corporation to move its water bottling operations out of California: Last Thursday, the company announced that it would move sourcing and manufacturing of its Ethos Water out of state due to the serious drought conditions and necessary water-conservation efforts in California. Over the next six months, Starbucks plans to move production to its Pennsylvania supplier, while exploring alternatives to transition to a new source and supplier to serve the company’s West Coast distribution.
Companies face a harder time today satisfying their customers. They expect their purchases to deliver as promised and, increasingly, they want to ensure the manufacturing process didn’t cause social or environmental damage along the value chain.
Hershey achieved 30 percent use of certified cocoa in 2014, putting the company ahead of schedule to hit its 2015 goal of 50 percent, according to Hershey’s 2014 Sustainability Report.The company has pledged to use 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa in all chocolate products by 2020.
The past week saw continued momentum in the global push for a more sustainable fashion industry, some from some surprising sources.
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the devastating collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh. It also marks the second Fashion Revolution Day, launched last year to commemorate the Rana Plaza disaster with the aims of encouraging greater collaboration across the fashion sector supply chain.
On Friday, the second annual Fashion Revolution Day, people in 66 countries around the world will challenge global fashion brands to demonstrate commitment to transparency across the length of the value chain, from farmers to factory workers, brands to buyers and consumers.One in six people work in the global fashion supply chain. It is the most labor-dependent industry on the planet, yet the people who make our clothes are hidden from us, often at their own expense, a symptom of the broken links across the fashion industry.
This week has seen another concerted push by concerned stakeholders to clean up major brands’ supply chains.On Tuesday, for the second time in a month, hundreds of activists once again took part in a Week of Action in grocery stores and public spaces across the United States, rebranding grocery store shelves and engaging shoppers to warn them that products from PepsiCo’s Quaker brand may contain Conflict Palm Oil.
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Nestlé USA has had a busy year so far: The company has publicly committed to removing all artificial flavors and colors from its chocolate candy by the end of 2015 and purchased enough certified cocoa to produce its entire Easter chocolate collection, a first for a major U.S. candy manufacturer.
The Hershey Company announced on Tuesday that it will source enough certified and sustainable cocoa in 2016 to surpass the amount of cocoa required for the global production of four of its most popular chocolate brands: Hershey's, Kisses, Kit Kat and BrooksideThe chocolate company also has pledged that it will source enough certified and sustainable cocoa to add the global Reese’s brand and others to these first four brands in 2017.Reaching this responsible sourcing milestone was possible due to progress in sourcing cocoa from certified and sustainable cocoa farms, Hershey says.