Unilever has launched a new soup in France that is the first to publicize a key ingredient as sustainably sourced, according to a recent announcement.
The soup will carry the label “Made with sustainably grown tomatoes” to reflect the company’s efforts over that past 15 years working with suppliers to meet its Sustainable Agriculture Code, which establishes guidelines for its suppliers and farmers to adopt sustainability practices. Tomatoes are the largest crop used in Unilever’s products, the company said.
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan sets goals of purchasing 100 percent of its top 13 vegetables and herbs from sustainable sources by 2015 and 100 percent of all agricultural raw materials by 2020.
Knorr recently hosted its second Sustainable Agriculture Summit with 80 of its largest global suppliers. The company discussed progress following 18 months of collaboration through the €1 million Knorr Sustainability Partnership Fund, which co-finances innovative sustainable farming projects with suppliers. So far a total of 30 projects have been financed, covering a range of sustainability issues such as biodiversity protection, water scarcity and climate change.
Six Knorr suppliers also have achieved “Landmark” farm status, reflecting their cachet as sustainability innovators.
“Our vision is for all of our Knorr agricultural suppliers to become ‘Landmark’ farms,” said Dirk Jan de With, VP of Procurement, Ingredients and Sustainability at Unilever. “The Knorr Sustainability Partnership Fund is available to support conversion to sustainable farming, so we invite all suppliers to apply for project funding as we aim to tackle sustainability issues together.”
Last fall, the Federal Trade Commission issued revised “Green Guides,” which help marketers ensure the claims they make about environmental attributes of their products are truthful. The guidelines set specific requirements for a range of environmental claims, however they do not specifically address “sustainability” claims.
@Bart_King is a freelance writer and communications consultant. @mikehower contributed.
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Bart King is the founder and principal at New Growth Communications. He specializes in helping sustainability leaders develop thought leadership content and strategy
Published Mar 4, 2013 6am EST / 3am PST / 11am GMT / 12pm CET