Sustainable sourcing

Sustainable sourcing

Sustainable sourcing is vital to feeding the world’s people while respecting the planet’s resources – and essential to the responsible growth of our business.

People, planet & prosperity: why we all need sustainable agriculture to flourish

How will the world rise to the challenge of feeding over 9 billion people without depleting the planet’s natural resources? How will we achieve our ambitions to grow Unilever responsibly, with a supply chain that both retains consumers’ trust and creates new opportunities for positive social impacts and business growth?

We believe a big part of the answer to both questions can be found in the widespread adoption of sustainable agriculture – which is why we’re committed to sourcing our agricultural raw materials sustainably.

We’re extending our thinking beyond the agricultural raw materials we buy to consider how we can future-proof other important supply chains too.

Our strategy

Our products are used by 2.5 billion people a day – that’s around a third of the people on the planet. We use many different raw materials to make our products – and millions of people play an important role in providing them.

Palm oil farmer

Sustainable farming methods have the potential to increase farmers’ yields considerably, mitigate the effects of climate change and provide farmers, their families and their surrounding communities with opportunities to build more prosperous societies – so they can contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The business benefits are clear. Sourcing sustainably helps secure our supplies and reduces risk and volatility in our raw material supply chains. It opens up opportunities for innovation: by focusing on people’s sustainable living needs and consumer preference, we build stronger brands. Sustainable farming methods can also improve the quality of our products, such as our sauces, soups, dressings and ice creams.
Our commitment

In 2010 we set a target to source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020.

Progress to date

In line with our original commitment, 56% of our agricultural raw materials were sustainably sourced by end 2018 (2017: 56%). This includes 51% as physical sustainable sources (2017: 51%) and 5% in the form of certificates for soy and sugar. The sale of our spreads business during 2018 had a slight downward impact on overall sustainable sourcing performance, given the substantial volume of palm oil used by our spreads business.

To maximize our impact, we’ve focused our efforts on a priority set of key crops and commodities. These priorities include palm oil, paper and board, soy, sugar, tea, dairy, rapeseed, cereals, vegetables, cocoa, herbal infusions and vanilla.

By implementing our focused strategy, the sustainably sourced volumes for our 12 key crops increased by over 4%, including significant increases for palm oil and tea. Overall, our performance versus 2017 was flat. 

By 2020, we expect to reach around 70% sustainable sourcing overall and to reach around 95% sustainably sourced for our 12 key crops.

And all the materials we purchase will be sourced responsibly in line with our Responsible Sourcing Policy.

See Targets & performance for more detail.

Creating positive impacts

In 2017, we reviewed the scope of our sustainable sourcing programme to ensure that we were able to drive maximum impact via our sourcing commitments. Our review extended through 2018, concluding with the recognition that the Unilever ambition to source sustainably and responsibly extends to all procured materials, not just those that are renewable. The approaches that we will deploy to achieve impact will vary based on the materials we procure.

  • We will lead industry transformation in palm oil and tea.
  • We will pay special attention to the livelihoods of smallholders as we recognise the leading role that they will play in transforming agriculture, especially where we lead in palm oil and tea.
  • We will support external certification standards where they are available and shown to drive impact in the environment and the livelihoods of the farmers and smallholders in our supply chain.
  • We will deploy our own sustainable agriculture standard where external certification is not available, where we are able to influence our suppliers to design programmes to promote sustainable practices and for those crops that are iconic to our brands.
  • In mined materials, we remain committed to further embedding our Code for Responsible Extraction (CORE) policy.
  • In plastics, we will continue to create transformational technology and recycling partnerships to enable a circular economy of plastics.
  • Following our Procurement Framework, the totality of our procured materials footprint will be covered by our Responsible Sourcing Policy, which we apply to all suppliers.

During 2019, we will define impact metrics against which we will track our commitments to smallholder livelihoods, industry transformation and sustainable sourcing (as newly defined to cover the entirety of our procured materials).

Against the original commitment we set in 2010 when we launched our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, we expect to reach around 70% sustainable sourcing (accounting for the divestment of our spreads business1) and to reach around 95% sustainably sourced for the 12 crops we have defined as key.

Our focus, energy and resources are aligned to create positive and transformational impacts on people, ecosystems and communities through our continued close collaboration with partners, suppliers, NGOs and government bodies. Building on the last ten years of learnings in driving sustainable sourcing for renewable raw materials, we believe that we should encompass the entirety of our procured footprint, all underpinned by our Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP). This will be a fully integrated framework.

Our updated sustainable sourcing strategy turns on several key pivots:

  • an unwavering commitment to deeper transparency and traceability on climate and social impact issues
  • a focus on living conditions and economic viability for the smallholders in our supply chain
  • on plastics and packaging waste, a radical shift from a linear, take-make-dispose model towards a more circular economy model.

Within each of these key pivots, we will fully leverage digital and technological solutions to first better understand the realities on the ground, which will then help to inform our development and implementation of programmes with impact where they are most needed.

Against these pivots, we made substantial progress in 2018 on several fronts.

Transparency & traceability

In 2018, we deepened our commitment to transparency with the publication of our palm oil mill list. This publication, which is updated on a regular basis, provides interested parties with an in-depth look at our palm oil supply chain.

The Unilever palm oil grievance tracker lists all public palm oil grievances raised to Unilever about direct and indirect palm oil suppliers. This includes allegations of non-compliance in Unilever’s palm oil supply chain since 2014 as reported by our stakeholders, including civil society organisations and the media. While grievances and steps taken to resolve them had been logged internally, we demonstrated leadership in transparency and accountability by publishing our palm oil grievances in January 2019, becoming the first fast-moving consumer goods company to do so.

In 2018, we received five grievances and two updates to major grievances that had been raised in previous years. In total, at least 11 direct suppliers and 27 indirect/third-party suppliers of Unilever were linked to at least one grievance raised in 2018.

Our palm oil Sustainable Sourcing team has been working closely with the stakeholders and our direct suppliers to seek resolution to all grievances listed. Given the complexity of our palm oil supply chain and the many stakeholders who are involved, we’ve seen good progress on our action plans with suppliers. While progressing towards resolution, the cases remain open until final supplier transformation is confirmed. Our grievance tracker will be updated on a quarterly basis, or when there is a significant update.

We also increased the visibility of our supply chain within our tea business in 2018 and will provide deeper transparency and information on several other key materials and their supply chains in 2019.

Our continued focus on smallholders

Through tailored impact programmes over the past decade, we’ve worked to help millions of smallholders improve their crop yields while increasing the quality and consistency of the crops they grow. By doing so, we are helping to create a sustainable platform for the smallholders to increase and diversify their incomes, which in turn, helps us build a resilient and sustainable supply chain.

In 2018, our business enabled 746,000 smallholder farmers to access initiatives to improve agricultural practices or increase incomes. We remain focused on:

  • leaning into radical transparency, which ensures fair markets
  • creating capacity at scale and economic and social inclusion for all by providing access to knowledge and finance
  • continuing to lead for mainstream standards, which in turn, contributes to greater resource conservation through aligned activities.

Digital is proving to be a key enabler to connect the farmers who grow our raw materials to our supply chain. In 2018, we leveraged satellite data to assess and monitor deforestation risk, using digital tools and aerial mapping to map smallholder plots in palm. In our vegetable programme, we pioneered digital tools for farmer engagement and training, and to provide weather data to smallholders in India. In tea, one of our largest crops, we’ve leveraged digital to advance all aspects of tea production on our plantations.

See Connecting with smallholder farmers to enhance livelihoods.

Plastics

If we are to source all our materials responsibly, we need to tackle not only the paper and board packaging we buy, but the many other types of packaging we use too. Therefore, we extended our Procurement Framework to cover plastics. Reducing plastic packaging and increasing the use of recyclable content in our packaging is a top priority. We have a clear strategy to use less plastic, better plastic, and ultimately, no plastic where a better alternative exists.

In 2018, we continued our ‘less plastic’ work to lightweight and redesign our packaging for sustainability. Since 2010, we have seen an 18% reduction in packaging weight per consumer use. ‘Better plastics’ is about making our products recyclable and eliminating problematic materials. Many of our brands are now incorporating post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics into their products. Finally, ‘no plastics’ is all about thinking differently – using alternative materials where possible and eliminating plastics where not necessary.

We remain focused on tackling the myriad issues related to packaging waste and are determined to keep plastic in the economy and out of the environment. For more detail on how we are accelerating our efforts on plastics, see Waste and packaging.

Future challenges

Sustainability is evolving and there is increased interest and scrutiny from consumers about the origin of ingredients, the environmental protection of our planet, and the fair and ethical treatment of people within our extended supply chain. We believe we will have a bigger and deeper impact on our supply chain by expanding our sustainable sourcing programme to include all procured materials.

We recognise that we’re facing many challenges, including increasing the number of materials we are working on and the difficulty of creating and sustaining positive impacts. The road ahead will not be easy − but our resolve to create a sustainable supply chain remains strong and unwavering.

For more see Our approach to sustainable sourcing.

1 In mid-2018 we sold our spreads business, which used a substantial volume of sustainable palm oil

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Targets & performance

We have set targets for a number of our agricultural raw materials.
Sustainable sourcing
Our commitment

By 2020 we will source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably: 10% by 2010; 30% by 2012; 50% by 2015; 100% by 2020.

Our performance

56% of our agricultural raw materials were sustainably sourced by end 2018 (2017: 56%). This includes 51% as physical sustainable sources (2017: 51%) and 5% in the form of certificates for soy and sugar.

In line with our strategy, sustainably sourced volumes for our 12 key crops increased by over 4% including significant increases for palm oil and tea, while our sustainably sourced volumes for non-key crops reduced. As a result, our performance versus 2017 was flat. The sale of our spreads business during 2018 had a slight downward impact on overall sustainable sourcing performance given the substantial volume of palm oil used by our spreads business.

By 2020, we expect to reach around 70% sustainable sourcing overall and to reach around 95% sustainably sourced for our 12 key crops.

And all the materials we purchase will be sourced responsibly in line with our Responsible Sourcing Policy.

Our perspective

Over 2016–2017 we undertook an in-depth review of our sustainable sourcing strategy to ensure we continue to evolve our approach and maximise our impact. The review highlighted the need for us to further strengthen our overall sustainable sourcing programme, and in particular to update our Sustainable Agriculture Code (SAC).

So in 2018 we piloted our Sustainable Agriculture Code 2017 with an initial 40 suppliers providing a representative variety of crops and geographies. The updated Code includes a stronger emphasis on social issues across five key areas (no deforestation; human rights, including Free, Prior and Informed Consent; legal compliance; migrant labour; and grievance processes for workers).

Our review also confirmed that while our strategic direction is the right one for our business, society and the environment, we are unable to reach our target by 2020 despite the considerable advances we’ve made. This is partly because of our lack of scale to achieve sufficient change across all crops. And partly because the length and complexity of some supply chains make it very difficult to develop a line of sight on the farmers at the very beginning of that supply chain, and thus to reassure ourselves that their practices are sustainable.

We are concentrating our efforts where we can drive the greatest impact. We’ve pinpointed a set of 12 priority crops and commodities which are not only crucial to our brands, but also where we can have most impact within their agricultural sectors. These include palm oil, paper and board, soy, sugar, tea, dairy, rapeseed, cereals, vegetables, cocoa, herbal infusions and vanilla. By 2020, we expect to reach around 95% sustainably sourced for these key crops, and around 70% sustainable sourcing overall.

In addition, we concluded in 2018 that our ambition to source sustainably and responsibly should extend to all procured materials, not just those that are renewable. So by 2020, all the materials we purchase – including plastics and mined minerals – will be sourced responsibly in line with our Responsible Sourcing Policy. Extending our scope in this way will enable us to drive maximum impact via our sourcing commitments.

See Our strategy above for further detail.

  • Achieved 3

  • On-Plan 8

  • Off-Plan 3

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    Of target achieved 3

Key to our performance

  • Achieved

    This is the number of targets we have achieved

  • On-Plan

    This is the number of targets we are on track to achieve

  • Off-Plan

    This is the number of targets we are currently not on track

  • %

    Of target achieved

    This is the percentage of the target we are on track to achieve

Our targets

Please see Independent assurance and our metrics for more details of our assurance programme across the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Sustainable palm oil

We will purchase all palm oil from physically certified sustainable sources by 2019.

67%*◊ of palm oil and palm kernel oil from physically certified sources in 2018, achieved through a combination of segregated and mass balance supply. For palm oil, we reached 81% from physically certified sources.

Our Perspective

Palm oil is a priority raw material and in 2016 we brought forward our target for purchasing 100% physically certified palm oil from 2020 to 2019. We are developing a separate glidepath for palm kernel oil.

In 2018 we reached 67% of palm oil and palm kernel oil from physically certified sources for our core volumes* from RSPO Mass Balance, RSPO Segregated or an equivalent standard that is independently verified by a third party. For palm oil only, we achieved 81% from physically certified sources – we are on track to achieve our 2019 target.

We believe we’ll make greater progress towards transforming the industry through greater transparency. In 2018, we became the first consumer goods company to publicly disclose the suppliers and mills in our direct and extended supply chain and created a grievance tracker for supplier non-compliance with our Policy. We’re also working on jurisdictional approaches to palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia.

* From 2017 we report only core volumes of palm oil. Core volumes exclude derivatives of palm fatty acid distillates (which are by-products of the refining process), tail ingredients and materials processed by third-party manufacturers

◊ Our spreads business was sold in mid-2018 and is excluded from our performance measure

Transforming the palm oil industry

Sustainable paper and board

We will source 75% of the paper and board for our packaging from certified sustainably managed forests or from recycled material by 2015. We will reach 100% by 2020.

98% of our paper and board came from certified sustainably managed forests or from recycled material by end 2018.

Our Perspective

Paper and board are priority raw materials and we maintained 98% sustainably sourced in 2018.

Of this, 84% was received with a third-party certification claim and full chain of custody to demonstrate that it came from sustainably managed forests or recycled material.

There are challenges for our suppliers in providing verifiable evidence to support the make-up of uncertified products in our recycled material. So in 2016 we set a new ambition to accelerate the volume of certified recycled products we purchase by 2019 and to source the recycled fibre from suppliers with third-party certification. Of our total volume in 2018, 11% came from recycled sources without chain of custody. Our procurement teams are working with suppliers to get these volumes certified with chain of custody to meet our 2019 ambition.

Asking our suppliers to certify recycled materials offers reassurance for our business and helps build the market for certified recycled materials.

Sustainable paper & board sourcing

Sustainable soy

We will source sustainably all soy beans by 2014 and all soy oils by 2020.

100% soy beans purchased from sustainable sources by end 2014.

72% soy oil covered from sustainable sources by end 2018.

Our Perspective

We achieved our target to source 100% of our soy beans sustainably by 2014 (through the physical purchase of RTRS certified beans).

Soy is one of our priority crops and we maintained 72% of our soy oil from sustainable sources in 2018. This includes Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) certified soy oil, RTRS certificates and self-verified soy oil in the US.

We buy most of our soy from the Americas, so we’re working with farmers there to further sustainable production. In Iowa in the US, we're working with soy farmers and soy oil suppliers to increase the use of cover crops as a way of protecting their soil. In Brazil, through collaboration with the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) and Aliança da Terra, we’re working with partners on The Produzindo Certo (Producing Right) initiative to support growers to improve their agricultural and farm management practices.


Sustainable soy & rapeseed oils

Sustainable tea

  • By 2015 we aim to have the tea in all Lipton tea bags sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ estates.

Since 2015, 100% of the tea in our Lipton tea bag blends has come from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ sources.

  • By 2020, 100% of Unilever’s tea, including loose tea, will be sustainably sourced.

Overall, 84% of the tea purchased for all our brands was sourced from sustainable sources in 2018: 68% was Rainforest Alliance Certified™ and 16% was trustea Verified.

Our Perspective

Tea is one of our priority crops and we buy around 10% of the world’s black tea. In 2007 we were the first major tea company to commit to sustainably sourcing tea on a large scale. In 2015, we met our target for 100% of the tea in Lipton’s tea bag blends to come from sustainable sources.

We continued our progress in 2018, increasing the proportion of all our tea from certified sustainable sources to 84%.

We work on around 40 major programmes in our tea supply chain, with objectives such as improving health and sanitation, empowering women, addressing climate change, promoting biodiversity and increasing tea workers' and smallholders' incomes. For example, as members of the Malawi Tea 2020 collaboration, we’re working to improve wages in the tea sector: by 2018, 50,000 workers on tea plantations were earning 57% more than Malawi’s agricultural minimum daily wage.


Sustainable tea - leading the industry

Sustainable fruit and vegetables

  • We will purchase 100% of our fruit from sustainable sources by 2015.
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67% of fruit purchased sustainably by end 2015; 60% by 2018.

  • We will purchase 50% of our top 13 vegetables and herbs from sustainable sources by 2012 and 100% by 2015. This accounts for over 80% of our global vegetable and herb volume.
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92% of our top 13 vegetables and herbs purchased from sustainable sources by end 2015, up from 59% in 2012. We reached 95% by 2018.

Our Perspective

Fruit and vegetables is a complex portfolio of materials with a very large and diverse supply base, making it difficult to achieve our 100% target across the entire portfolio by 2015.

Following an in-depth review of our strategy to optimise our approach to sustainable sourcing over 2016−2017, we’re focusing on a set of key crops which are important to our brands and where, due to our scale and influence, we can drive greater positive impact within these agricultural sectors. There are a small number of crops that we purchase in low volumes and where we alone are unable to significantly impact the market. Fruit is one of the crops that our review led us to deprioritise, and in line with this strategy, our sustainably sourced volumes decreased to 60% in 2018.

Vegetables remain one of our priority crops with 95% of our top 13 sustainably sourced in 2018.

Sustainable vegetables

Sustainable cocoa

We will source cocoa sustainably for our Magnum ice cream by 2015. All other cocoa will be sourced sustainably by 2020.

98% of cocoa for Magnum sustainably sourced through Rainforest Alliance certification by end 2015; 98% by 2018.

Overall, 82% of all cocoa sourced sustainably.

Our Perspective

Magnum is our biggest ice cream brand and is on sale in 57 countries. We are now able to source Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa for the majority of these countries.

Our challenge remains in purchasing Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa in Brazil, Venezuela and Israel where the availability of certified beans remains very limited. As cocoa is one of our priority crops, we’re working hard to find solutions to fulfil our ambition in these countries. We also intensified our efforts to source all our cocoa sustainably, jumping from 70% in 2017 to 82%.

In 2018, we joined The Cocoa & Forests Initiative, signing its statement of intent to collaborate pre-competitively to help end deforestation and forest degradation in the cocoa supply chain. We’ve started mapping our direct cocoa supply chain, together with our suppliers, to improve traceability and better understand where our cocoa comes from.

Sustainable cocoa & sugar

Sustainable sugar

We will source all sugar sustainably by 2020.

69% of sugar sustainably sourced by end 2018.

Our Perspective

Sugar is one of our priority crops. We verify sugar beet primarily against our Sustainable Agriculture Code (SAC) and mainly use Bonsucro certification for sugar cane.

In 2018 we increased our sustainable sugar supplies to 69%. The proportion of self-assessed and physical, certified sugar rose to 42% (this covers both sugar beet and sugar cane). We achieved the rest of our sugar requirements with Bonsucro credits.

Our long-term is to help create a global supply of sustainable sugar. We believe the best way to achieve this is to harmonise the sustainable sourcing codes of the food and drink industries and forge them into a single standard, which can have an impact at scale. That’s why we have helped develop the Farm Sustainability Assessment through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, which has been agreed by many businesses and gives farmers a single, simplified sustainability framework to work to.

Sustainable cocoa & sugar

Sustainable sunflower oil

We will source all sunflower oil sustainably by 2020.

17% of sunflower oil sustainably sourced by end 2018.

Our Perspective

In 2016 we began an in-depth review of our strategy to optimise our approach to sustainable sourcing. As a result, we’re focusing on a set of key crops which are important to our brands and where, due to our scale and influence, we can drive greater positive impact within these agricultural sectors.

There are a small number of crops that we purchase in very low volumes and where we alone are unable to significantly impact the market. Sunflower oil is one of the crops that our review led us to deprioritise. In line with this strategy, our sustainable sunflower oil volumes decreased to 17% in 2018 and we will not get close to our target.

Nevertheless, we continue to work with our suppliers to find industry-wide solutions to boost supplies of sustainable sunflower oil.

Sustainable rapeseed (canola) oil

We will source all rapeseed oil sustainably by 2020.

76% of rapeseed oil sustainably sourced by end 2018.

Our Perspective

Rapeseed oil is one of our priority crops. In 2017 we reached 84% sustainably sourced, driven by a particularly strong performance in Europe where we were able to buy oil for our German Rama spreads and all our Flora spreads range in the UK.

In 2018, 76% of our volumes were sustainably sourced. This figure was impacted by the sale of our spreads business which purchased a significant amount of sustainable oil. However, we continue to buy rapeseed oil for leading brands such as Hellmann’s mayonnaise.

We also continue to work with our suppliers and other partners, including on a joint approach with our partner Bunge in Canada, where around 200 farmers were signed up to our Sustainable Agriculture Code programme in 2018. In close co-operation with our farm advisers, Control Union, these farmers have transitioned their practices to our Sustainable Agriculture Code’s requirements.

Sustainable soy & rapeseed oils

Sustainable dairy

We will source all dairy produce sustainably by 2020.

75%† of dairy produce sustainably sourced by end 2018.

Our Perspective

Dairy produce is one of our priority ingredients, and while we increased our sustainable supply to 75% in 2018, we now know we will not get as far as we hoped by 2020. This is because in some countries, for example Russia and Pakistan, sustainable dairy practices are not yet sufficiently widespread to produce a reliable supply. Similarly, the variety of dairy products we buy come from many suppliers, making it difficult to achieve a sustainable supply at scale.

In Turkey we’re trialling ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with milk. As well as better yields and quality, overall a 2% reduction in GHG emissions has been achieved.

In 2018, we began working with the Dairy Sustainability Framework, joining pilot schemes looking at improvements from a regional perspective. This is a first for the dairy industry; further work in 2019 will explore whether this approach can be used as an industry standard.

† Independently assured by PwC

Sustainable dairy

Fairtrade Ben & Jerry's

All flavours of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will be Fairtrade certified by 2013.

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77% of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavours achieved Fairtrade certification in 2013. We reached 100% in 2014.

Our Perspective

Ben & Jerry’s ice creams were the first to use Fairtrade (FT) ingredients in 2005. By the end of 2011 in Europe, we achieved Fairtrade certification for all our products produced and distributed in Europe.

In 2012, due to issues around quality and availability, we found we could not source all the FT-certified ingredients we needed for a global conversion. So we revised our target from our previous ‘all ingredients’ to ‘all flavours’ certified.

We identified that by using FT ingredients for the five major commodities in all our base mixes and for our chunks and swirls, and following proper Fairtrade derogation procedures, all our ice cream flavours would qualify for Fairtrade certification by 2013. We reached 77% in 2013.

In 2013 we also decided to source only non-GMO ingredients by seed source. As this added complexity to our conversion programmes, we delayed our plans, achieving FT-certification for all our flavours in 2014.

Ben and Jerry’s

Cage-free eggs

We aim to move to 100% cage-free eggs for all our products,* including Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Hellmann’s, Amora and Calvé mayonnaises.

*Where allowed by local legislation.

64% of eggs were cage-free by end 2018.

Our Perspective

Our research shows that consumers prefer products made with cage-free eggs. However, the conditions in which eggs are produced vary widely around the world. We take animal welfare seriously as a social and ethical concern and were one of the first global companies to work with suppliers to start sourcing cage-free eggs.

Since 2009, Hellmann’s, Amora and Calvé have been 100% cage-free in Western Europe. By 2014, we had converted our supply chain in Eastern Europe too so that all our European products could use cage-free eggs.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has used only cage-free eggs in Europe since 2004; by the end of 2011, 99% of all eggs used in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream mix worldwide were also cage-free.

In 2018 we announced our commitment to convert all our egg supplies to cage-free by 2025. We continued to make good progress in North America, reaching 96% cage-free and 16% in Latin America.

Farm animal welfare

Sustainable sourcing of office materials

By 2013 we will source all paper-based office materials for our top 21 countries from either certified sustainable forests or recycled sources.

100% of paper-based materials from certified sustainable forests or recycled sources by end 2013.

Our Perspective

Our commitment covers office paper products such as printer paper, note books and envelopes. By using paper from sustainable or recycled sources, we avoid using wood from non-sustainable sources, helping our aim to end deforestation.

We achieved our target in 2013, when 100% of our paper-based office materials for our top 21 countries came from either certified, sustainable forests or recycled sources. All our suppliers sign a certificate of compliance, and we monitor compliance via quarterly reporting. Where necessary, we have changed from non-sustainable products to sustainable products.

We then extended our ambition from the top 21 countries to all other countries in Europe and Latin America, with the aim of reaching 100% compliance by the end of 2015, which we achieved.

While we no longer report on this target as we achieved it in 2013, we continue to drive greater use of sustainable paper across our business.

Reducing office impacts