Nestlé chief executive Mark Schneider has told the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit that the consumer goods industry “can do better” in terms of tackling environmental issues.
“Success in business is about getting up again and again, dusting yourself off, and trying harder,” he said. “We made some progress, but compared to the commitments we have made, we’re not close enough.”
Commitments
Schneider’s comments followed a protest by Greenpeace activists on the first day of the Summit, which sought to draw attention to commitments made by Forum members ten years ago to tackle deforestation, which the NGO says are far from being met.
The former Fresenius chief executive pointed to Starling, a satellite-based system the group is using to monitor its palm oil supply chain, as evidence of its efforts to tackle deforestation in the supply chain, adding that customers now expect firms like Nestlé to be taking decisive action.
“Customers want to know what we are doing for the betterment of society, what we are doing for community, what we are doing for public health, what we are doing for the planet we live on,” he said.
Working Together
Schneider described the Greenpeace protest at the event as an example of “1970s and 1980s activism”, calling on the NGO to work more collaboratively with big business in order drive progressive change.
“It’s about working together to get things done, there’s no time for these pranks any more,” he said, adding that Nestlé is a “fact-based organisation” that is open to engagement.
“Don’t come to us with unrealistic expectations, let’s come together,” Schneider added.
He noted that when it comes to sustainability, or driving positive social change, there is “no silver bullet” – rather it is a question of “consistently trying hard, over time” to make a difference, even for larger firms.
“Size gives you opportunity,” he added, “but you need to make your size useful, and lead by example, and over time, people will see that you are serious.”
Climate Emergency
In a statement, Greenpeace said that it was calling on Forum members to ‘declare a climate and ecological emergency’, as well as ‘agree on bold actions to end deforestation by 2020, as they promised to do almost a decade ago’.
“Instead of running seminars on marketing to millennials, you should be agreeing the bold actions you will take to fix your deforestation problem. And that means fundamentally changing the way you do business,” said Daniel Brindis, forests campaign director at Greenpeace USA.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
