Kraft Foods has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index – for the fifth year in a row on the North America Index and fourth year running on the World Index. This honor recognizes the company's economic, environmental and social performance.
Kraft Foods is the only U.S.-based food company to be a World Index Sustainability Leader. The company achieved the food industry's leading scores in operational eco-efficiency, talent attraction and retention, corporate governance and code of conduct/compliance.
"What makes this accomplishment most rewarding is that it's the result of a true company wide effort, and one that's growing in intensity each and every day," said Steve Yucknut, Vice President, Sustainability. "Our employees care, and they're working on a global basis to make a lasting, positive difference that will deliver benefits today and for future generations."
Continuing progress against sustainability goals
Kraft Foods has made good progress against its 2011 sustainability goals. Since 2005, the company has:
· Reduced plant energy use 12 percent (goal of 25 percent)
· Reduced plant energy-related CO2 emissions 14 percent (goal of 25 percent)
· Reduced plant water consumption 21 percent (exceeding goal of 15 percent)
· Reduced plant waste 14 percent (goal of 15 percent)
· Eliminated 116 million pounds (nearly 53 million kilograms) packaging material (goal of 150 million pounds)
In 2008, Kraft Foods purchased more than 30,000 metric tons of coffee and 3,300 metric tons of cocoa from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms, making the company the world's largest buyer of coffee and cocoa from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms. And over the last five years, Kraft Foods' collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance has benefited more than 300,000 farm workers and their dependents on more than 60,000 hectares of farmland in tropical countries.
Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (www.sustainability-indexes.com) are the first global stock indexes tracking financial performance of leading sustainability-driven companies. Updated annually, companies are reviewed based on a thorough analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, branding, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labor practices. The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index recognizes the top 10 percent of the biggest 2,500 companies worldwide based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria. The Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index captures the leading 20 percent of the largest 600 North American companies of the Dow Jones Global Index in terms of sustainability.
As a food company, Kraft Foods relies on the ability of the earth to produce the raw materials used every day to make its products. Conducting business in a way that respects the intersection of environmental, social and economic responsibility is the right thing to do and it makes good business sense. With this approach, Kraft Foods is making a delicious difference and building a better world. For more details on the company's sustainability focus and progress, please visit www.kraftfoodsbetterworld.com.
From American brand icons like Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings, Maxwell House coffees and Oscar Mayer meats, to global powerhouse brands like Oreo and LU biscuits, Philadelphia cream cheeses, Jacobs and Carte Noire coffees, Tang powdered beverages and Milka, Cote d'Or, Lacta and Toblerone chocolates, Kraft Foods brands deliver millions of smiles every day. Kraft Foods is the world's second-largest food company, with annual revenues of $42 billion. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index.
