Carbon neutral certification a first in NZ and Australia.
Leading Kiwi milk formula manufacturer Danone says its success in achieving carbon neutral certification for two of its premium Karicare products - a first in the milk formula industry in either New Zealand or Australia - has been done in part to “give power back to the consumer”.
Karicare spokesperson, Ximena Ramirez, says the certification which followed a rigorous data collection and analysis process over more than a year, was done with an eye on the health of both people and the planet.
“It is something we wanted to champion as category leaders,” she says. “New Zealanders are discerning customers and they expect us to take meaningful actions to protect the environment and to sustainably feed a growing population.
“It is a commitment we have and one that is a response to consumer demand.”
Karicare, part of the giant Danone global food and beverage company which has 100,000 employees worldwide and sells products in 120 countries, is an iconic Kiwi milk formula brand. Its products currently account for about 55 per cent of the milk formula market in New Zealand. In Australia it currently has a 9.1 per cent share of the market.
Two of its product ranges, Gold Plus+ Organic and Gold Plus+ A2 Protein Milk, have been independently certified carbon neutral by global climate consultancy, the Carbon Trust, as the first step in Danone’s aim of having the entire Karicare range carbon neutral by 2030.
Ramirez says the two Karicare product ranges are also the first from Danone’s global specialised nutrition portfolio to be certified carbon neutral and are an important step in the parent company’s goal to be a net-zero carbon company worldwide by 2050.
The certification comes on top of another key sustainability move made by Danone in New Zealand through its investment of more than $NZ30 million in a state-of-the-art biomass boiler at its spray drying plant at Balclutha in Otago.
The boiler, which is powered by renewable bio-fuel, combined with a switch to 100 per cent green electricity will substantially reduce carbon emissions from the plant. Commissioned in November, the biomass boiler alone reduces CO2 emissions by 20,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent of removing 10,000 cars from New Zealand roads.
She says to achieve the certification Karicare had to look at every stage of the product lifecycle from on-farm practices in producing the ingredients, manufacturing, packaging and distribution. At each stage carbon emissions were measured, reduced, and remaining emissions compensated for.
“It was a very rigorous and challenging process, but the right thing to do,” she says. “It’s not a static certification; we have to prove every year we are reducing emissions to maintain certification and have sustainability teams in Balclutha and Australia for this work.”
Overall, Karicare sells 5097 tonnes annually across all its products. Currently, 98% of the Karicare portfolio packaging is recyclable - a figure which the company expects to reach 100 per cent by the end of 2023.
“This carbon neutral journey has been greatly aided by its production in New Zealand, a country well-known for its efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions,” she says. “New Zealand dairying is also regarded as having the lowest carbon footprint of any major dairying nation.”
The biomass boiler in Balclutha is fuelled by by-products or residue of sustainable forestry that may ordinarily go to waste and are valuable sources of heat, steam and/or electricity.
Danone’s New Zealand Operations Director, Steve Donnelly, says commissioning the boiler had not been a simple project but was symbolic of the action required for a business to meaningfully contribute to realising a low-emissions, climate resilient future for New Zealand.
As well as its decarbonisation agenda, Danone is also investing in regenerative agricultural research in New Zealand with partners Synlait and AgResearch. The five-year study, started in 2021, will compare soil health on farms deploying a range of regenerative practices with farms using conventional methods.
Donnelly says this is an important topic for New Zealand. “Not only is there potential for the soil to be more productive, but for its ability to sequester carbon. If we can improve our soil’s ability to absorb carbon by only a few percentage points, the positive environmental impact would be tremendous.”
For more information go to: danone.com/impact/planet.html
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