Kellogg Company unveiled its ambitious next-generation commitment to address global food security aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs) and launched its 11th annual Corporate Responsibility Report, Creating Better Days. In a keynote address at Sustainable Brands ’19, Chairman and CEO Steve Cahillane announced that the company is taking its corporate responsibility work and impact to the next level to drive positive change for 3 billion people, communities worldwide and the planet by the end of 2030.
“Our visionary founder, W.K. Kellogg, was focusing on sustainability and communities when he founded our company more than 100 years ago. Long before sustainability and corporate purpose were part of the mainstream, he understood that companies operate with the permission and endorsement of society,” said Cahillane. “Today, the number of people affected by food insecurity is staggering. There are more than 820 million hungry people in the world[1], the majority of whom are women and girls. As a leading global plant-based food company, achieving food security is at the heart of Kellogg Company’s commitment to society.”
Continuing its journey to drive growth through purpose, Cahillane announced the company’s next-generation Kellogg’s® Better Days global commitment to help end hunger and create Better Days for 3 billion people by the end of 2030.
The company will do so by:
- Nourishing 1 billion people with its foods, delivering nutrients of need and addressing hidden hunger;
- Feeding 375 million people in need through food donations and expanded child feeding programs;
- Nurturing the planet as it supports 1 million farmers, especially women smallholders and workers;
- Conserving natural resources all along the value chain, from responsibly sourcing ingredients and reducing food waste, to providing recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging;
- Encouraging employee volunteerism, ensuring an ethical supply chain and supporting diversity and inclusion;
- And living its founder’s values by advocating on behalf of hungry children everywhere and engaging 1.5 billion people to help address the important issue of food security.
Earlier this year, Kellogg announced accelerated progress toward its current Breakfasts for Better Days™ commitment. “We’re far ahead of schedule, reaching more people with greater impact than we envisioned at this point,” said Kris Bahner, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs at Kellogg Company.
In the last 10 years alone, Kellogg has provided 3 billion servings of food to people in need, supported 329,000 farmers through climate-smart agriculture programs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions to the equivalent of taking 317 million miles off the road[2].
“As one of the food industry’s first initiatives to focus solely on addressing food security, we are proud of our Breakfasts for Better Days™ achievements,” said Bahner. “However, we must constantly evaluate how we can best advance our efforts today and tomorrow. Our next-generation Kellogg’s® Better Days global commitment embodies the company’s heart and soul strategy, and will help drive transformational change while delivering a more sustainable and responsible value chain for the future.”
Kellogg Company’s current Breakfasts for Better Days™ and Global Sustainability commitments will sunset at the end of 2019 and 2020, respectively. The company will continue to track and report its progress toward these commitments in its annualCorporate Responsibility Report until that time.
“We will continue to pick up where our founder left off by making sure we do everything we can to leave the world a better place than we found it. But we know we cannot achieve these ambitious goals alone. We’ll continue to forge partnerships − with our colleagues, supplier partners, customers, government leaders, NGOs, people who enjoy our foods and others − to improve lives and the planet we all share,” said Cahillane.
