SOURCE: Mondelēz International
SUMMARY:
- Confirms progress in improving community livelihoods by scaling signature sourcing programs, reducing use of virgin plastics in packaging and reducing climate impact in owned operations
- Advances against diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) goals: exceeding women in executive leadership goal by >2X and improving U.S. Black management representation by 60 percent year-over-year
- Continues to help create long-term value for business through ongoing investments in ESG and supply chain resiliency
DESCRIPTION:
CHICAGO, May 13, 2022 /3BL Media/ - Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) today published its 2021 Snacking Made Right Report, demonstrating progress against its short- and long-term ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals. The report confirms progress in building a more sustainable snacking company, grounded in creating long-term value for both the business and its stakeholders. Mondelēz International remains focused on leading in areas where the Company can help deliver more positive impact – including helping to build a thriving cocoa sector, reducing packaging waste and reducing its environmental footprint.
Mondelēz International’s ESG strategy and goals prioritize delivering lasting change at scale through innovative and holistic approaches, collaboration for sector-wide transformation and adoption of measurable solutions. Core to the Company’s purpose – empowering people to snack right by delivering the right snack, at the right moment, made the right way – ESG remains a long-term value driver at Mondelēz International. The 2021 Snacking Made Right Report demonstrates measurable progress against key areas of focus including more sustainable ingredient sourcing; improved packaging by making our packaging designed for recyclability and removing challenging materials; increased actions to help address climate change; initiatives to advance DE&I; and support for consumer and community well-being.
“A sustainability mindset has long been integrated into our business growth strategy as we continue to create value, make our business more resilient and accelerate our ambition of building a more sustainable snacking company,” said Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International. “I am proud of the strong progress our company has made against our ambitious ESG goals, which are integral to the long-term success of our business and help us address some of the key issues facing the world at large.”
2021 progress against the company’s ESG goals include:
Sustainable Ingredients
- Reaching 209,954 Cocoa Life registered farmers (exceeding the 2022 goal of 200,000 program-registered cocoa farmers)
- 75% of cocoa volume for chocolate brands sourced through Cocoa Life (+7 percentage points since 2020)
- 91% wheat volume needed for Europe business unit biscuits production grown under Harmony charter (+15 percentage points since 2020)
- 100% palm oil volume RSPO certified (since 2014) with 99% traceable to mill and 87% forest monitored
Climate & Environment
- 21% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions (baseline 2018)
- 32% total electricity used in owned operations from renewable energy (+9 percentage points since 2020)
- 100% use of electricity from renewable sources in Brazil, Peru and UK manufacturing facilities
Packaging
- 95% packaging designed to be recyclable (+1 percentage point since 2020)
- On track to use 5% recycled plastic content by 2025 with 0.5% used in 2021 (baseline 2020)
- 72,100 metric tonnes of packaging materials eliminated (baseline 2013)
Employee & Community Well-being
- 39% Women in executive leadership1; exceeding goal to double by 2024 (baseline 2018)
- 5% Black Management representation (U.S.)2; a 60 percent increase year-over-year
- 61% Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) in Cocoa Life communities in West Africa (+33 percentage points since 2020)
- Over $50 million in cash and in-kind donations made in 2021
Snacking Mindfully
- 18% of packs feature Snack Mindfully portion icons (+4 percentage points since 2020)
- 17% snacks net revenue from portion control snacks (+1 percentage point since 2020)
“This year’s report documents important milestones marking 10 years on our sustainability journey, in which we’ve achieved scale in our signature ingredient sourcing programs Cocoa Life and Harmony Wheat. With Cocoa Life, we have built the largest cocoa sustainability program and have achieved the goal we set in 2012, investing more than $400 million USD in the program to support farmer livelihoods, reaching almost 210,000 cocoa farmers and, more importantly, seeing positive impact at scale,” said Christine Montenegro McGrath, Senior Vice President and Chief Global Impact and Sustainability Officer at Mondelēz International. “The issues we are tackling are systemic, requiring supply chain and business transformation. That’s why our integrated approach is not only designed to tackle root causes, but also embedded into our business growth strategy. We are committed to measuring our impact and investing in scalable solutions and innovation so we can drive lasting change.”
Beyond progress against 2025 goals, the Company continued to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to advancing its ESG agenda with more ambitious goals, investments and financing to tackle issues like climate change and packaging waste, including:
- Setting a long-term goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
- Investing in Circulate Capital Ocean Fund to support the collection of more plastic waste than the Company currently produces in India and South East Asia
- Issuing the Company’s first green bond in September 2021 – at the time the largest issuance in the packaged foods and consumer goods industry
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1 Executive leadership defined as Mondelēz Leadership Team plus one
2 Management defined as all banded roles
About Mondelēz International
Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2021 net revenues of approximately $29 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.
About Cocoa Life
Cocoa Life is Mondelēz International’s global cocoa sustainability program. Cocoa is the essence of our chocolate and vital to our business, so our goal is ‘making cocoa right.’ Making it right means tackling the complex challenges that cocoa farmers and their communities face, including climate change, gender inequality, poverty and child labor. Cocoa Life is addressing these challenges holistically across six cocoa-growing countries: Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, India and Brazil. We work with NGOs, governments, implementing partners, farmers and others, to help develop systemic solutions, turning cocoa farming into more sustainable businesses, empower communities and conserve and restore the forests. To find out more visit: www.cocoalife.org.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words, and variations of words, such as “will,” “may,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about: the Company’s growth strategy and ambition of building a more sustainable snacking company; the Company’s ESG strategies, goals, targets and initiatives; and long-term value creation. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Mondelēz International’s control, which could cause Mondelēz International’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements. Please also see Mondelēz International’s risk factors, as they may be amended from time to time, set forth in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. There may be other factors not presently known to the Company or which the Company currently considers to be immaterial that could cause its actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements the Company makes. Mondelēz International disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press release, except as required by applicable law or regulation. In addition, historical, current and forward-looking sustainability-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. The information included in, and any issues identified as material for purposes of, this document may not be considered material for SEC reporting purposes. In the context of this disclosure, the term “material” is distinct from, and should not be confused with, such term as defined for SEC reporting purposes.
KEYWORDS: NASDAQ: MDLZ, Snacking Made Right, esg
