Download Pdf of the Alpro Case Here
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The full package: plant-based products in a plant-based carton Alpro, part of Danone Alpro and Tetra Pak achieve an ultimate synergy with a fully plant-based product. Belgian plant-based specialist Alpro and Tetra Pak achieved a natural symbiosis when they succeeded in developing the optimal plant-based packaging for Alpro’s plant-based products. Today 84% of the market leader’s beverages come in low carbon packages. As a pioneer in plant-based food and drinks, creating products from almond, oat, soya, coconut, hazelnut, rice and cashew, Alpro is on a mission to change the way we look at food, consumption and production. “We are leading a worldwide food revolution aimed at feeding our future with plants,” says Sue Garfitt, General Manager of Alpro and CEO in Europe. According to United Nations, the world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 20501, and this creates a need to protect the planet’s precious resources and change the way that people consume food. This is exactly what Alpro aims to do. Since the company’s foundation in 1980, it has been an important part of their DNA to get the world to consume food and drink better – and the switch to plant-based packaging plays an important role in this journey: “It has been an imperative for us to close the loop on the packaging. The package is what we hold, use and touch and as a plant-based leader, it made absolute sense to wrap our products in cartons made from plants.” 1 https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/ world-population-prospects-2019.html A strong commitment “Our relationship is one that puts both to sustainability. our businesses at the leading edge of Recently, Alpro translated their mission into a five- technology to ensure that we bring this year health and sustainability action plan with concrete commitments, titled: ‘Feeding the Future pioneering aspect of what we do to the With Plants’. In this action plan they commit to consumers,” Sue Garfitt continues. achieving 100% recyclable packages for beverages and to introducing paper-based packaging for their “Tetra Pak has shared their expertise with us plant-based yoghurt by 2025. and together we have been very committed and dedicated to make this transition. The task The company is on track to become carbon-neutral, demanded a lot of agility and bravery, because which requires changes across each step of the value the minute you change your materials and how chain, from sourcing of materials and ingredients to you source them you also have to make sure the production and packaging. materials are available over the long term. That can be seen as a risk.” “We set science-based targets to reduce our carbon emissions at least to the level where we help keep global warming below 1.5 Cº,” says Sue Garfitt. “After an analysis of our packaging, we concluded that if we could convert our full range of beverage cartons to plant-based, then we could meet our What are science- science-based targets for packaging.” based targets? The Science Based Targets Today 76% of Alpro’s beverages comes in low initiative (SBTi) is a partnership carbon packages made with Bonsucro certified between CDP, WRI, WWF and UN sugarcane-based plastics. With Alpro products Global Compact, in collaboration being sold in 50 countries, this corresponds to with We Mean Business coalition, We set science-based more than half a billion packages annually – and that mobilizes companies to set the number will likely grow with the company, emissions reduction targets in targets to reduce our which is currently growing 10% a year. line with climate science. Since carbon emissions at its launch in 2015, over 1,000 The collaboration with Tetra Pak. companies, including Alpro and least to the level where For Alpro, Tetra Pak was a natural partner to work Tetra Pak have committed to set with on the plant-based package, ‘almost like a science-based targets. we help keep global match made in heaven’. The two companies have worked together since the early days of Alpro’s warming below 1.5 Cº origin and share many of the same values: It has been a bold change for us and definitely worthwhile as we now have reached an important and significant breakthrough The switch from carton packages made from fossil- Reinforced brand values based materials to plant-based packaging took 18 Today, Alpro communicates its use of plant-based months in total and over the next twelve months, packaging materials right on the carton, and the Alpro will move over 600 million cartons to plant- message resonates well with consumers. Sue based packages. Garfitt says the switch has been great for the brand’s reputation: To implement the change, Alpro needed to figure out how to manage both costs and operational “It has helped reinforce our brand values and what implications. And they had to ensure the safety of we stand for. But beyond that, the plant-based their products by securing that the new packaging packaging has opened a dialogue with our had a protective barrier that could provide the customers and our trade partners about our same freshness and quality consumers had come collaboration with Tetra Pak and our goal of using to expect. only plant-based packaging in the near future.” “It has been a bold change for us and definitely worthwhile as we now have reached an important and significant breakthrough,” says Sue Garfitt..