Ebro Foods has designed and launched a Global Sustainability Plan called RUMBO A 2030 [“Heading Towards 2030”], setting out its goals and actions in the area of environment and health & social well-being to be developed by the Group up to 2030, with the aim of continuing to grow sustainably. The Group is to invest more than 150 million euros in developing this Plan.
Ebro designed the Plan after making an exhaustive analysis of its value chain, incorporating the expectations of all its stakeholders and identifying the Sustainable Development Goals in which it is able to make the greatest positive impact, thus focusing its commitment on three pillars of action: PEOPLE, HEALTHY EATING & WELL-BEING and THE PLANET.
With a view to reporting and making people aware of the progress achieved in each of these areas, the Group has set up the website CaringforYouandthePlanet.com, where we will inform on our progress and fulfilment of the goals described in RUMBO A 2030.
PEOPLE: Human Rights, care of human capital and social progress in communities as our main areas of work
The Group will pay special attention to enhancing the welfare of our employees, offering continuous training and career development in an effort to retain talent, searching for ways to help them achieve a better work-life balance, upholding equality and diversity, increasing the ratio of women in our ranks and improving health and safety at work.
The Plan contemplates respect for Human Rights as our fundamental principle, and in this regard the Group will apply the Principle of Due Diligence in all our subsidiaries, provide specific training in Human Rights for all our employees and develop an exhaustive programme of social audits at both our own workplaces and those forming part of our supply chain.
We will also continue implementing actions that contribute towards social and economic development in the Group’s areas of influence, seeking to strengthen our relations with local communities. In this regard, Ebro will continue to promote our own CSR projects, including those we develop through our Foundation, along with initiatives of social interest promoted by NGOs and institutions.
PLANET: Ensure the sustainability of our supply chain and own production centres
The three fundamental areas of action contemplated in RUMBO A 2030 within this pillar are: (1) guaranteeing the environmental efficiency of all the Group’s operations; (2) mitigating and adjusting to the effects of climate change; and (3) ensuring the sustainability of our principal raw materials. Accordingly, programmes are to be set up to:
- – Reduce water consumption and increase the use of recycled and reused water
- – Reuse and recover the waste generated at our plants, setting our sights on achieving “ZERO WASTE”
- – Eliminate the use of non-reusable plastics and see that 100% of our packaging is recyclable or reusable
- – Reduce the quantity of packaging materials and 100% paper and cardboard from forests managed in accordance with FSC/PFSC standards or recycled
- – Optimise logistics and transport to reduce our carbon footprint, increase energy efficiency to reduce emissions, mitigate the carbon footprint on crops and implement carbon offset projects
- – Foster sustainable growing practices and animal welfare policies.
The goal set in the Plan is for 100% of our raw materials to be environmentally, economically and socially sustainable by 2030 and 100% of our suppliers to have acceded to the Group’s Supplier Code of Conduct or operate according to ESG policies.
WELL-BEING THROUGH FOOD AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF HEALTHY LIFESTYLES: R&D and innovation as the driving force behind the development of products for consumer health, anticipating their needs, and programmes to encourage healthy habits
The Group places the utmost importance on investment in R&D and innovation, with the intention of offering consumers a broad array of healthy products. In this line, Ebro has launched 255 new differentiated products with a high value added over the past two years. This has been made possible by its five R&D and Innovation Centres in France, the USA and Spain.
As part of its drive to foster and promote healthy eating habits and lifestyles, Ebro has also set up the blog sentirse bien se nota and developed initiatives such as Ebro Salud, an integral education project directed at schoolchildren with a view to raising their awareness and encouraging them to eat well and lead a healthy lifestyle.
