Hilton Foods, a leading global multi-protein producer, has recently published its inaugural Transition Plan, outlining its roadmap to becoming a net zero company by 2048, two years ahead of its initial business targets.
As one of the first food manufacturers to issue a plan of this kind, Hilton Foods is continuing its focus on its Sustainable Protein Plan, finding meaningful ways to implement its targets over the coming years, and encourage similar ambitions from its partners and the wider industry.
By detailing the actions taken so far, and the upcoming plans developed to reduce emissions, the Transition Plan, aligned with the UK Government’s Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) disclosure framework, provides a transparent review of Hilton Foods’ journey towards net zero. Plans have been tailored to the specific needs of each site, accounting for local technology, weather conditions, and energy demand, and designed in collaboration with customers to measure and reduce the environmental impact of products across the value chain.
The Transition Plan is built on Hilton Foods’ ambitious Science-Based Targets (approved in March), with plans to reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions accelerated earlier this year, and aligned with guidance from the CDP to ensure cohesion with global frameworks.
The Transition Plan sets out five areas of focus for sustainable improvements at Hilton Foods:
- Business operations – Working to reduce emissions across all production sites by improving efficiency, using more renewable energy and upgrading cooling systems on site.
- Packaging – Creating a circular packaging system which uses less virgin material, while maintaining product quality and avoiding food waste.
- Ingredients – Delivering actions to reduce emissions across all our ingredient supply chains; increasing the value of by-products, expanding the use of low carbon fertiliser and working to ensure feed supply chains are verified deforestation and conversion free, as well as investing in low carbon protein sources.
- Livestock – Improving animal welfare, health, and genetics to lower methane output, managing land emissions and implementing technologies to reduce emissions from manure and digestion.
- Seafood – Improving disease resilience and exploring alternative farming methods to improve health outcomes and electrifying fishing vessels to support emissions reduction.
Steve Murrells CBE, Group Chief Executive Officer said: “At Hilton Foods, our Sustainable Protein Plan is at the heart of our operations. A huge part of this is how we can reach net zero by 2048. It is an ambitious target but this transition plan – one of the first of its kind in this sector – will help us stay focused and drive forward change in our own business. I’m really proud that Hilton Foods is leading the way, and I think there is huge opportunity for collaboration across the industry to create positive change with our partners and communities to benefit our ecosystems.”
Lorna Schneider, Group Chief Quality and Sustainability Officer said: “Over the coming years, we will be working hard to drive forward sustainable change in line with the strategy set out in this Transition Plan. And while this plan is aligned with the UK Government’s Transition Plan Taskforce, we are implementing this globally, across all our markets, so there is huge opportunity to have a genuine impact. While the actions will evolve and grow to move with our business, we hope that by being transparent it will support our partners in aligning to their own strategies and delivering their own goals too.”
This plan is supported by a robust governance approach to keep the business on track and accountable to its actions. This includes core metrics and KPIs to meet each year, Board oversight and specific ESG targets built into Hilton Foods’ Long-Term Incentive Plan.
This follows news in March 2024 that Hilton Foods had new, more ambitious near and long-term science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).