Hershey on Monday released its most recent CSR Scorecard, which reflects substantial progress on a range of sustainability programs and new initiatives over the past year.
The company says it is on track to meet or exceed all of its 2015 sustainability targets set forth in its last full CSR Report. The latest scorecard is organized around programs and initiatives in four key areas of social responsibility: Marketplace, Environment, Workplace and Community.
Some notable achievements Hershey has highlighted include:
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Reduced Water Usage — Hershey has cut its normalized water consumption in manufacturing operations by 58 percent from 2009 to 2012. The company says this reduction was the result of a large cross-functional effort to conserve water and conduct third-party audits of water use. The audits led to installation of water conservation measures, combined with the transfer of manufacturing from the 19 East plant to the highly water-efficient West Hershey plant.
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Sustainable Palm Oil — In 2011, Hershey committed to purchasing 100 percent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified palm oil by 2015. In an effort to reduce Hershey’s impact on sensitive rainforests and other natural resources, the company is accelerating its plans and all palm oil purchased by the company will be RSPO certified by the beginning of 2014, one year earlier than its original commitment.
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Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) Manufacturing — Hershey has increased fivefold the number of manufacturing plants that have achieved ZWL status and is working towards attaining this status at several other sites. The company’s East Coast Distribution Center and Hershey’s Chocolate World Attraction have also achieved ZWL status, bringing the total number of Hershey facilities operating as ZWL to seven.
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One-Hundred Percent Certified Cocoa Commitment — Hershey pledged to source 100 percent third-party certified cocoa for all of its chocolate products worldwide by 2020. This includes moving to 100 percent certified cocoa for the Scharffen Berger brand by the end of 2013 and for the Hershey’s Bliss chocolate brand in 2012.
The report also highlights such accomplishments as Hershey’s 21st Century Cocoa Plan to help some 750,000 cocoa farmers grow sustainable crops and Project Peanut Butter to fund a manufacturing plant in Ghana that makes and distributes vitamin-enriched nutritional packets to malnourished children.
Hershey has received much external recognition, including being selected for the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, ranking #7 in the Food and Beverage section of America’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens, making the Bloomberg Civic 50 list and topping the 2012 CoreBrand BrandPower Rankings.
“Our commitment to citizenship is fundamental to our business strategy and global growth and we continue to make progress on all fronts,” said John P. Bilbrey, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company. “We are continuing the legacy of our founder, Milton Hershey, who believed that it was the company’s obligation to ‘do well by doing good’ in society.”
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Apr 23, 2013 1am EDT / 10pm PDT / 6am BST / 7am CEST