The Ferrero Group announced today that it is on track to achieve key sustainability goals. Ferrero's progress is documented in the Group's 14th Sustainability Report, which highlights the steps taken during the 2021/22 financial year in the four fundamental pillars: environmental protection, sustainable procurement, promotion of responsible consumption and people enhancement.

"The financial year was particularly challenging: a war broke out, supply chains were disrupted, energy costs soared and inflation soared along with the cost of raw materials," said Giovanni Ferrero, Executive Chairman of the Ferrero Group. “Faced with these challenges, Ferrero has not only been able to grow, but also to make significant progress in several of our sustainability goals and, in some cases, exceed them,” he added.

As part of Ferrero Farming Values (FFV), a cross-commodity framework, the Group is committed to supporting and improving the sustainable sourcing of its ingredients, as well as sharing knowledge along the value chain. In 2021/22, the FFV program helped provide one-on-one coaching to 32% of cocoa farmers in farm and business planning techniques, while 155,000 cocoa farmers took part in group training plans. The Sustainability Report also details how Ferrero has achieved 96% traceability of the cocoa purchased at the farm level. Additionally, 82% of total cocoa volumes came from dedicated farmer groups supported by Ferrero.

In the overall hazelnut procurement, the Group has achieved 79% traceability, despite the systemic complexities of the supply chain. Further evidence taken from the Sustainability Report is provided below:
- 92% of the electricity purchased globally by Ferrero now comes from certified renewable sources, compared to 84% last year.

- 100% of palm oil is RSPO certified as segregated, with 99.95% attributable to 146 mills and 722 plantations. The segregation model ensures that sustainable palm oil is kept separate from plantations and farms and throughout the supply chain. The Group was one of the first global companies to purchase RSPO certified 100% palm oil as segregated (since 2015).

- Completed the four-year plan "Cocoa and Forest Initiative (CFI)" achieving most of the objectives or even exceeding them. This includes the involvement of more than 170,000 farmers now part of the Ferrero Cocoa Program, of which 161,000 (95%) monitored with polygonal mapping as early as 2021/22, exceeding the initial target set at 153,000.

- Publication of the company's first Human Rights Report at the end of 2021. The report focuses on 10 of the most relevant human rights issues across all value chains, regardless of product or geography. This shows how Ferrero is working to address these issues. “Across each of the four key pillars of our sustainability framework, the Report shows that we have made significant progress towards the goals we have set for ourselves,” said Lapo Civiletti , Chief Executive Officer of the Ferrero Group. "Despite a difficult economic and geopolitical context, the Group has increased its investments to continue guaranteeing high levels of quality, freshness and safety in all our products, while reducing our environmental impact".

Attached to this EFA News is the complete text of the Ferrero Group's 2022 Sustainability Report.