We’re proud of the role we play in society, from the food we make to the responsibility we have in supporting our communities and protecting the environment.
Our annual corporate responsibility report highlights our progress, areas where we have more work to do, and all of our accomplishments in what has been an unprecedented year. As we navigate this new environment, our commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability has never been more relevant.
Taking care of our people and our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic
Our front-line teams have played an essential role during the pandemic to ensure food reaches tables across North America. From the earliest days of the pandemic, we implemented comprehensive protocols to keep our employees safe. In recognition of these often heroic efforts, we offered 18 weeks of premium pay for more than 11,000 employees, one of the longest running programs in the food industry.
We also stepped up community support in response to the pandemic, providing more than $8 million to date in COVID-19 relief and recovery across our operations in North America.
Building a winning team and culture
In March 2020, we launched the Campbell Employee Experience framework to enhance the nine foundational moments that are key to an employee’s experience at Campbell, with a focus on ways of working and improving culture and inclusivity.
2020 was a year of reckoning around racial and social issues. As part of our commitment to create a culture where all our employees can feel safe, valued, and supported to do their best work, we introduced an actionable Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) strategy, focused on the standardization of key business processes and increased learning opportunities, advocacy for ally networks and communities, and accountability. As part of this work, we appointed our first-ever Chief Culture Officer, Camille Pierce.
We also pledged $1.5 million in financial support over three years to nonprofit organizations working to raise awareness, advance education, and fight racism and discrimination. Working alongside the leaders of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), the Campbell Soup Foundation has created social justice funds for our Black Resource Group, Latino Network and Veteran’s Connection. The Foundation is working with all of our ERGs to create similar funds, matching employee donations at 100%.
Another way we’re taking action is by building a more diverse supplier base, setting a goal to increase our spend with diverse suppliers by 25% over the next three years. In October, our CEO joined a coalition of CEOs from our home state of New Jersey in committing to increase the group’s collective diverse supplier spending by $250 million by 2025.
Empowering stronger, healthier communities
Supporting our local communities remains core to who we are and what we value. Our charitable giving in fiscal year 2020, including Foundation, Corporate and in-kind donations, totaled nearly $56 million. This year, we’ll complete the final year of Campbell’s Healthy Communities—a 10-year, $10 million initiative focused on improving the health of young people in Camden and other hometowns.
As we look ahead to what’s next, we’re working to build upon that legacy with a new multi-year commitment focused on developing a blueprint for creating a healthy school food environment—starting in Camden, New Jersey—with the long-term goal of creating a school food environment in which all students have access to the food they need to thrive.
Building a sustainable and resilient supply chain
From sustainable agriculture and ingredient-sourcing to new packaging commitments, we strive to build a more resilient food system.
We reached our goal to improve fertilizer use on 70,000 acres of wheat one year ahead of schedule, boosting farmers’ profitability, improving surrounding water quality, and reducing the impact on the climate.
We reassessed the environmental and social risks across 30 ingredient categories and confirmed 92% of priority raw materials are responsibly sourced, with 93% of priority raw materials traceable to country of origin. We also integrated the brands from our Snyder’s-Lance acquisition into our palm oil commitment and are on track to achieve 100% Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification by the end of fiscal 2021. Our Campbell legacy brands already source 100% RSPO-certified palm oil.
We launched new commitments to reduce packaging waste by increasing circularity—keeping materials in use and out of landfills. We’ve committed to transitioning 100% of packaging to recyclable or industrially compostable materials and designs by 2030. Today, 90% of our packaging material by weight is already recyclable or industrially compostable. These goals are designed to address all phases of the packaging lifecycle, from sourcing to end-of-life, including recycling or composting.
Continued commitment to our sustainability goals
While we achieved a great deal, the challenges of 2020 leave us with work to do on some of our sustainability goals. We remain committed to these goals and providing an update on our progress is an important element of our commitment to transparency.
Last fall, we committed to setting a Science-Based Target (SBT) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the company’s supply chain. In fiscal year 2020, our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions increased against the fiscal year 2017 baseline, due in part to a shift from location-based to market-based accounting in order to capture the renewable energy credits we purchase and improved data quality through a new internal tracking system, as well as increased production as a result of the historic demand for our foods driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting a SBT creates a clearly defined pathway for our company to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals.
In 2020, we joined retailers and food industry peers in the “10x20x30” initiative with the goal of halving food loss and waste by 2030. Through fiscal 2020, we reported a cumulative 14% reduction in food waste compared to our 2017 baseline. While our progress on this goal slowed in fiscal 2020, we remain committed to reducing our food waste as part of this initiative. We also reported that our waste to landfill increased 13%, due in part to increased production, equipment issues and growing conditions leading to more disposal of dirt and grit.
We remain committed to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by the end of 2025, and sourcing 100% gestation crate-free pork by the end of 2022. In fiscal 2020, our progress decreased slightly in both areas compared to fiscal 2019, due to higher demand for products that have not yet converted to cage-free and crate-free.
Recognition for our progress
Being a good corporate citizen is part of our DNA, and we’re proud when others recognize our efforts. In 2020, we were named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine and one of the 100 Most JUST Companies in America by JUST Capital. We are also included on multiple indices including the FTSE4Good Index, the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and the MSCI Index Series.
Looking ahead
While the COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges, it also brought into focus a targeted set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. As we look ahead, we are taking a more holistic approach to our ESG strategy, with a focus on our food, people, communities, and the environment.
Learn more about our progress and view the full 2021 Campbell Corporate Responsibility report.
