packagingnews.co.uk, Josh Brooks

Unilever has beaten Nestlé and Danone to be named the most sustainable of the world's biggest food and drink manufacturers.

A benchmarking report from international sustainability consultant Two Tomorrows found the Anglo-Dutch FMCG group had the strongest sustainability credentials of its peers, which included PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, AB InBev and Kraft.

Unilever earned a sustainability score of 64% and was picked out for its "comprehensive sustainability strategy" that permeated the business and its performance in areas such as carbon emissions and water usage.

The group, which is behind brands such as Ben & Jerry's, Flora, Pot Noodle, Marmite and PG Tips, was also praised for its role in initiatives such as the Marine Stewardship Council and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Nestlé, meanwhile, was found to have the best approach to its supply chain management thanks to its decision to remove intermediaries in its dealings with more than 660,000 suppliers of dairy, coffee and cocoa products.

Packaging's environmental impact was considered in the report among a wide range of potential sustainability issues such as food safety, water usage, energy use and the welfare of communities within the supply chain.

Overall, the companies scored full marks for recognising packaging as a sustainability issue but just four out of ten for publishing information on evidence that they were taking measurable actions to reduce its impact.

Alex Nicholl, a consultant at Two Tomorrows who wrote much of the report, told Packaging News that the low score on action was most likely to be a result of packaging reduction already being part of the DNA of most of the companies.

"They have been working on packaging for decades so it's a well-embedded part of the culture of many of these companies," he said. "They have made great progress and it's under control."

The study also reported that carbon emissions from transport were receiving increasing attention from the food and drink manufacturers surveyed, largely due to the potential cost if cap-and-trade agreements or other carbon-pricing approaches were adopted.

The report said that the sustainability efforts of the world's largest food and drink manufacturers "are being driven by consumers' social and environmental concerns as well as companies' fears that climate change and water scarcity are putting at risk the security of their supplies".

Two Tomorrows conducted the survey by reviewing corporate publications of the 10 biggest food and drink companies in the Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest companies.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE SUSTAINABILITY RANKINGS
1 Unilever 64%
2 Nestlé 59%
3 Danone 58%
4 PepsiCo 51%
5 Coca-Cola 49%
6= Anheuser-Busch InBev 46%
6= Kraft 46%
8 Heineken 39%
9 Tyson 28%
10 Kirin 23%