By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media
Mondelēz International has launched Sustainable Futures, a new impact investment platform to incubate, finance, and build partnerships in self-sustaining ventures that address key global challenges, including climate change, and that advance ESG initiatives.
The global powerhouse that is owner of iconic brands such as OREO, Cadbury, Toblerone, and Trident, among many others, and saw net revenue of approximately $27 billion last year, stated that this investing platform is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to exact a positive impact on people and the planet.
“We don’t have all the answers, but we do know that alone, we can never achieve significant progress in the fight against systemic issues like climate change,” said Dirk Van de Put, chief executive and chairman, Mondelēz International.
With the knowledge that the heaviest factor of its carbon footprint is due to its sourcing of its raw ingredients like palm oil or cocoa, Sustainable Futures will seek to co-invest with like-minded investors or make seed investments in ventures that work to improve the standard of living and build healthy communities through projects that protect forests, reduce carbon emissions, or increase the resilience of the land from where it sources its raw materials.
“Sustainable Futures is our first foray into impact investing and gives us the opportunity to work with others in supporting environmental and social projects that can help drive meaningful, long-term change,” said Van de Put.
The first commitments made through the platform include support for an NGO in India that is building a sustainable, women-owned social enterprise to upcycle multi-layered plastic packaging into board for multiple uses, and a venture in South Africa with INMED Aquaponics Social Enterprise (ASE) supporting ag-entrepreneurs advancing climate-smart food production.
“It’s only by testing and learning new approaches, and by seeking new forms of partnership with NGOs, governments, and social entrepreneurs, that we can unleash the creativity we need to tackle some of the world’s most challenging issues,” said Christine Montenegro McGrath, VP and chief of global impact and sustainability, Mondelēz International.
“By offering seed investment and expertise through Sustainable Futures, Mondelēz International can help to create lasting solutions in areas like forest protection, carbon emissions reduction, and innovation in recycling.”
Mondelēz is far from the only global CPG turning its attention, and capital, toward ESG and impact investing. In fact, it may be a bit of a late-comer. Just a few examples include:
In 2019 global bakery giant Grupo Bimbo committed $10 million from its employee pension fund to the Latin America Impact fund managed by Sonen Capital and Mexican private equity manager Fondo De Fondos.
In October of that same year PepsiCo issued a $1 billion green bond (one of the first food and beverage corporations to do so) of which the net proceeds are to be committed to impact investments that strongly align with the company’s sustainability agenda including packaging, decarbonization, and water, and support the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals.
As of December 31, 2019, $447 million of the net proceeds from the bond had been allocated to:
~ $200 million to source recycled plastic for the company’s North American beverage packing operations.
~ $110 million to transition the company’s fleet to low-carbon models.
~ $98 million to improve water use efficiency including new water treatment technologies that resulted in 70 percent water reuse rates.
And in January 2020 Nestlé launched a US$258 million sustainable packaging fund to invest in startups making advances in applicable technologies.
– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com
The post Mondelēz Makes First Foray Into Impact Investing With Launch of Sustainable Futures Platform appeared first on Global AgInvesting.