Goodman Fielder has launched ‘Better Together’, an ambitious new sustainability strategy designed to help embed sustainability across the company’s business, culture, brands and products.
Developed to support global efforts to deliver the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the ‘Better Together’ strategy highlights nine progressive new sustainability goals, including net zero emissions by 2040, 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, and to halve food waste by 2030.
The leading food manufacturer, which has a factory in the region, has outlined a number of goals, according to a company statement.
These include:
- Net zero emissions by 2040.
- 100% recyclable packaging by 2025.
- Meaningfully improve the nutritional value of its product by 2025.
- 100% sustainable packaging materials by 2030.
- 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
- Reach 40m with its sustainability message by 2030.
- Halve food waste by 2030.
- 100% sustainably sourced ingredients by 2030.
- Develop a diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous recognition plan in 2021.
By driving progress against our four key focus areas of better products, better planet, better business and better communities, this strategy will provide us with a pathway to living our purpose and ensuring food is a force for good. –
Bernard Duignan
Products touch millions
Bernard Duignan, Goodman Fielder NZ CEO, said: “Our products touch millions of people every day and we are committed to using that reach as a force for good. We are thrilled to launch ‘Better Together’, an important milestone for the Goodman Fielder family.
“By driving progress against our four key focus areas of better products, better planet, better business and better communities, this strategy will provide us with a pathway to living our purpose and ensuring food is a force for good.”
Duignan said the company was excited to deliver local solutions to global challenges and continue to make a difference.
“We know that by working together, we can make everyday food better for everyone.”
In 2021 the food company will:
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- Move to 100% renewable electricity in New Zealand and Australia. This will more than halve the greenhouse gas emissions from its operations in these countries and provide a pathway for net zero emissions. This initiative is the equivalent of taking 17,000 cars off the road, the company said.
- Complete year three of a four year Network Transformation programme that will see a reduction of 1,745 tonnes CO2 emissions annually
- Switch its fleet of 110 Sales company vehicles to Hybrid models by end 2022, which will reduce fuel consumption of the fleet by 41%
- Eliminate 40 tonnes of PVC packaging in NZ (switching to PET with 30% recycled content), and will remove all PVC from retail packaging across New Zealand and Australia by end 2021
- Replace 100 tonnes of virgin plastic with recycled content across New Zealand and Australia Four NZ manufacturing sites are participating in EECA’s Energy Transition Accelerator Program to develop road maps to zero emissions at each site
- Provide logistics support to expand the NZ Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme to the South Island and, by the end of 2023, aim to achieve 1500% increase in Nature’s Fresh bread bags being recycled annually
The ‘Better Together’ strategy also showcases some of Goodman Fielders’ recent sustainability achievements. Since 2010 Goodman Fielder NZ has donated over two million loaves of fresh bread to foodbanks in New Zealand, and launched the Goodman Fielder Cares Trust, which has donated over $300,000 to initiatives helping to fight poverty.
2020 saw the brand deliver a lighting replacement program and generate its first 1000MWh of solar electricity.
Meanwhile in the sustainable packaging space, across the group Goodman Fielder has replaced 100 tonnes of problematic PVC with PET (including 30% recycled content) and removed 185 tonnes of plastic and 100 tonnes of cardboard from its packaging.
