General Mills makes new commitment on supply chain sustainability
General Mills recently announced a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions across its entire supply chain — “from farm to fork to landfill” — by 28 percent over the next 10 years.
The maker of Cheerios, Haagen Dazs and dozens of other products with $17.6 billion in annual sales is the first major food company to set a specific goal to cut emissions beyond its direct operations.
General Mills does business in more than 100 countries and has food manufacturing in 15 countries. In 2013, General Mills made a commitment to sustainably source 100 percent of its 10 priority ingredients by 2020. These ingredients represent 50 percent of the company’s total raw material purchases
In addition to broadening existing partnerships with organizations like Field to Market, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and others, the company has outlined four specific actions to help fulfill its climate commitment over the next 10 years, including:
–Continue to lead the way in its own, direct operations by investing more than $100MM in energy efficiency and clean energy. This level of investment is in-line with the work the company has been doing within our operations to reduce our environmental footprint since 2005.
–Partner with suppliers to accelerate adoption of more sustainable agriculture practices that build climate-resilient, healthy soils.
–Help consumers reduce their carbon footprint through products and packaging with smaller footprints.
–Support climate resiliency of farmers in our supply chain.
