Leading soft drinks business, Britvic, is inviting key European suppliers to update contracts to align to sustainability targets and significantly cut carbon emissions.
This is a huge step towards Britvic’s Healthier People, Healthier Planet 2025 targets which will seek to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 35%, strive for all priority raw materials to be 100% sustainably sourced, and have increased supply chain mapping for high-risk materials.
As a first step, over the next year suppliers will be requested to sign up to sustainability platforms such as Sedex and EcoVadis, helping to reduce environmental and ethical risks in the supply chain and provide measurable progress on their commitments.
Over the following 12 months, Britvic will work with suppliers to agree advanced contractual requirements on a case-by-case basis. These could include:
- Commitment to the Science-Based Targets initiative
- Reporting on greenhouse gas emissions via the Green House Gas protocol
- Aligning with sustainability verifications and gaining leading sustainable certifications
To support suppliers with their new commitments, later this year, Britvic and its financial partner ING will formally launch a sustainable supply chain finance programme.
Siobhan Walker, Managing Director Corporate Sector Coverage at ING, said: “Britvic continues to demonstrate leadership in ESG matters and ING is delighted to partner with Britvic to realise its goals.”
Soulaimene Ben Lassoued, Senior Associate in ING Trade Advisory and Structuring, added: “Sustainability is at the heart of ING’s strategy, and we are committed to support Britvic as well as their suppliers in their sustainability journey.
“The transition towards a Sustainable Supply Chain Finance programme is an important milestone that we are confident will make a positive impact to the whole value chain by rewarding and incentivising Britvic’s key suppliers to act more sustainably, and at the same time, improve their cash flow.”
This announcement follows Britvic’s first Supplier Sustainability Summit last month where more than 50 suppliers were hosted in Britvic’s head office in Hemel Hempstead. The summit was a day designed for suppliers to come together and share learnings on reducing impact on the planet.
Inge van Disseldorp, Sustainability Manager at SVZ, premium juice supplier said: “I truly think that sustainability is about people. It starts with shifting the mindsets of key stakeholders towards sustainable behaviour.
“Britvic’s Supplier Sustainability Summit was a great platform to connect with supply chain partners from various parts of the world and to discuss pressing topics such as carbon and energy and human rights.
“I think Britvic did a wonderful job in boosting their supply chain partners to take responsibility together and to speed up the process of sustainable sourcing. We can achieve more together than on our own.”
Matt Swindall, Britvic’s Chief Procurement Officer, said: “As with all other businesses, the most challenging net zero goal remains reducing Scope 3 emissions.
“We know that reaching our climate goals means helping our partners meet theirs, and I was thrilled to have such a positive response from our suppliers to commit to such targets.
“We will be offering tailored support on a case-by-case basis to address each of our supplier’s individual sustainability challenges and help them to set ambitious but achievable goals.”
The announcement is a major step towards Britvic’s target to reduce its Scope 3 emissions by 35% by 2025 and follows Britvic introducing over 20 energy saving projects to its supply chain in the last year. These have ranged from efficiency projects such as insulating pipework and efficient lighting systems, through to changes to operational processes and equipment. Through re-evaluating existing processes in Ireland, Britvic has provided further carbon savings – removing the pasteurisation process for Robinsons, with no impact on quality, safety and taste.
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