Tetra Pak 2022 Sustainability Report Raises Hope for Farmers on Quality Milk Production

Tetra Pak,  a world-leading food processing and packaging solutions company, has announced its 23rd Sustainability Report highlighting the company’s achievements and progress actions designed to help realise sustainable food systems in the last one year.

The sustainability report underscores the need for a radical approach to defining the way we feed the world while minimizing the impact on the planet.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Tetra Pak, Mr. Adolfo Orive, said, “With the way we source, produce and process our food, to its transportation, the materials we use to package it, and the critical role of collaborations in making it happen.”

He also declared: “Sustainability is not just on the agenda. It is THE agenda. We must ‘walk the talk’ by maximizing our positive impact on nature and society, by continuing to embed sustainability as a key business driver and decision-making criteria.

“Our ambition is to lead sustainability transformation within our industry and our initiatives in this regard have continued over the last 12 months, working together with our customers and partners to support their own efforts as well. We realize the cost of inaction on sustainability today is a world we won’t recognize tomorrow. Our progress depends on being able to embrace a mindset which drives both growth and sustainability for a better future.”

The company announced that it made considerable progress in helping food and beverage manufacturers worldwide meet the internationally leading food safety standards – now and for the future – with its expertise in packaging, equipment, and services.

“Our expertise in sterilization technology and microbiology, combined with our hygienic equipment and robust digitized control systems, enabled it to contribute to internationally leading food safety standards. Our global and cross-functional network of employees proactively monitors food safety legislations and regulatory developments so we can continue to ‘future-proof’ our products and solutions before compliance regulations emerge and evolve has been impactful in our achievements this past year,” the report stated.

In its West Africa operations, and in line with this global initiative, the 2022 sustainability report highlights that Tetra Pak West Africa made tremendous progress in enabling a secure long-term supply of locally sourced, high-quality milk by improving smallholder farmers’ productivity, market access, profitability, and livelihoods together with their partners.

While commenting on this, Managing Director, Tetra Pak West Africa, Mr. Oshiokamele Aruna, said the company, through the Dairy Hub Model, food and beverage manufacturers were able to secure a long-term supply of locally produced quality milk by providing smallholder dairy farmers access to training services and cooling infrastructure technology needed to increase the productivity, availability, and quality of milk, and farm profitability.

“Tetra Pak partnered with food and beverage manufacturers to increase water availability, which is a crucial part of milk production, and to improve the safe transportation of milk to collection centres. Solar-powered boreholes were installed to provide water to communities, and provisions were made for food contact safe milk collecting cans for transportation, which increased the shelf life of the product.

“The result according to the statement is that Seven hundred and fifty (750) farmers in a nomadic dairy farming community in Osun state increased their yield by 3,750 litres of milk daily,” he affirmed.

Other highlights and achievements recorded in the report include ongoing initiatives – to protect food, people, and the planet such as reduced operational GHG emissions by 36%, with 80% of energy coming from renewable sources, doubling the solar energy capacity to 5.55MW. The Launch of a pioneering land restoration initiative in Brazil, in collaboration with local NGO Apremavi in early 2022 with the aim to restore up to 7,000 hectares of land by 2030 for biodiversity recovery, carbon capture, and climate change mitigation.

It also indicated that the company sold 17.6 billion plant-based packages and 10.8 billion plant- based caps in the past year, enabling the saving of 96 kilo tonnes of CO2, compared to fossil-based plastic. It also invested €40 million to support the collection and recycling of 50billion cartons, contributing to a circular economy. While also ensuring that 61 million children in 41 countries received milk or other nutritious beverages in Tetra Pak packages through its school feeding programmes.

Others include the successful completion of a commercial validation of a polymer-based barrier to replace the aluminum layer in aseptic cartons.

Testing has started on a new fiber- based barrier – a first within food carton packages distributed under ambient conditions. While becoming the first carton packaging player in the food and beverage industry to launch a cap using attributed recycled polymers, in partnership with Elvir, a subsidiary of world- leading milk processor Savencia Fromage & Dairy.

The year also saw the company partnering with several innovative companies to transform potential food waste into sources of nutritious food, as well as developing alternative protein-based food applications, among others.

Tetra Pak

Tetra Pak is a world leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with its customers and suppliers, the company provides safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries. With more than 25,000 employees around the world, Tetra Pak  believes in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business. The promise, “PROTECTS WHAT’S GOODTM,” reflects the company’s  vision to commit to making food safe and available, everywhere.