Over at The SKAN Factor, we recently rated the sustainability of this company, arguably the biggest food company in the world. For those that don't know, The SKAN Factor is a sustainability rating system that measures a company's sustainability on 56 different points, including carbon emissions, energy reduction, water management, waste and a variety of social issues. At first, I wasn't expecting much as I hadn't really seen much about Kraft in the daily barrage of green rags and newsletters that I receive...that is until they recently cut the ribbon on a fabulous, 800,000 square foot distribution center in Moline, IL which achieved LEED-CI Gold certification status. Then we looked further.
Read on...
The results were astonishing. This company is committed to sustainability in a way that we don't often see amongst the world's largest companies -- and they've been at it for some time. You can read the summary of our findings by clicking on this link. Kraft puts its mind to almost every level of sustainability: energy, waste, water, air quality, transportation, packaging, social programs for its employees and communities around the world...the list is quite extensive and impressive. I say almost every level of sustainability, though, because there's one area that they historically have avoided: when it comes right down to it, Kraft is still in the business of making processed foods; foods that can contribute (along with bad decision making and/or eating habits of the consumers of the food) to obesity and other illness. Processed foods are clearly not sustainable for many reason beyond their contribution (or lack thereof) to our health -- too many to address here. So how do we factor this into our rating? It was quite the conundrum! Here's a link to my CLTV piece on the subject.
Yet we're hoping that in short order, Kraft will give us the answer. There are early signs (as fuzzy as they might be) that Kraft is starting to take this healthy eating thing more seriously. Though I don't see them removing Cheez Whiz from the shelves anytime soon (you can't have a Philly Cheese Steak without one), there have been a number of initiatives announced lately aimed at reducing sugar, calories, fat and other bad-for-you ingredients form their products, especially those consumed by kids. They've even voluntarily stopped target marketing to kids under 12.
So how do we score this, folks? The next time you're in the store and you have to make a decision between a Kraft product and one that might be healthier but that does bad things to the planet, which do you choose? While your considering it, keep this in mind. In light of Kraft's growing involvement with the Rainforest Alliance relative to their purchase of coffee beans, there's a strong argument that Kraft is doing more for the environment overall than is Starbucks who has refused to fully sign-on to the fair trade movement and doesn't even have recyclable cups. Wow, HOLD ON TO YOUR LATTE.
Comments