The Barilla group on Thursday
presented its 2016 Sustainability Report, titled "Good for You,
Good for the Planet".
Sustainability is an increasingly important industrial
value for Barilla.
The group, based in the region of Emilia-Romagna, is the
world's biggest purchaser of durum wheat and has 29 production
plants with revenue of 3.3 million euros.
In the past five years, the company has reformulated 219
products to include less fat, salt and sugar; more fibre; and
constant growth in offering whole-wheat products.
In 2015 Barilla bought 140,000 tons of sustainable durum
wheat from 1,300 companies, representing a 50% increase on 2014
figures and tripling the margin of strategic raw materials
purchased from responsible supply chains from 6% to 18%.
Company President Guido Barilla said the objective is to
make that figure 100% by 2020.
The group's "Wheat Train" project has contributed to
reducing water consumption by 19% and reducing greenhouse gas
emissions by 23% for each ton of product produced.
In addition to the attention placed on the environment,
there is also concern for people: three out of four employees
have joined the company's "Smart Working" programme, which
offers flexibility and improved work-life balance.
The company is also paying attention to the topic of
diversity: the goal is to have gender equality in leadership
positions by 2020.
"The topics of personal well-being, food safety, nutrition,
environmental sustainability and the social role in the
communities in which we operate offer us extraordinary
opportunities to plan an industrial model that is continually
headed towards the future," Guido Barilla said.
In particular, Barilla bought 1.5 million metric tons of
wheat in 2015, mainly in countries where it has production
plants.
In Italy the group buys about 12% of the country's entire
national grain production: 475,000 metric tons, which represent
about 70% of the supply required in its plants.
Of this, 85% comes from farming contracts in
Emilia-Romagna, Marche, and Puglia.
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