May 11/Camden, N.J./Business Wire -- Campbell Soup Company reported its progress on its sustainability and corporate citizenship goals, including efforts to improve the health of young people and reduce the environmental footprint of its products. The complete update of its corporate social responsibility report is available at www.campbellsoupcompany.com/csr.

 “Across the Campbell organization we continue to demonstrate progress toward our 2020 goals,” said Dave Stangis, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility. “We have updated the online report to reflect performance from fiscal 2010, which represents important information for both our external and internal stakeholders. More clearly than ever we can show that our efforts are delivering measureable results and value to our business and societal stakeholders.”

Over the next decade, Campbell plans to pursue four goals:

Nourishing Our Planet: Reduce the environmental footprint of its product portfolio in half, as measured by water use and CO2 emissions per product produced. Over the past year, Campbell has eliminated nearly 29,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions at its manufacturing operations and reduced greenhouse gas emissions per unit of food produced by more than 4%. The company also reduced water used by 3% and energy used by 2% per unit of food produced.

Nourishing Our Neighbors: Campbell announced a 10-year, $10 million plan with the goal of reducing childhood obesity and hunger among Camden’s 23,000 children by 50%. Campbell will collaborate with leading organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Food Trust, New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids-Camden, the Camden Children’s Garden and the Y, along with the United Way, Cooper University Hospital, Rutgers University, the Food Bank of South Jersey and others.

Nourishing Our Employees: Achieve 100% employee engagement in CSR and sustainability. Campbell employees now have a CSR-oriented goal incorporated into their annual performance objectives, which can be achieved either individually or as part of a work-affiliated group activity.

Nourishing Our Consumers: Continue to advance the nutrition and wellness profile of Campbell’s product portfolio. Last year, wellness-oriented products accounted for 32% of total company revenue. In the U.S. alone, Campbell now has more than 200 products with reduced levels of sodium; more than 200 products that are low in fat and saturated fat; more than 150 products that have 100 calories or less per serving; and more than 115 product SKUs that are certified by the American Heart Association.

Campbell issued its first Corporate Social Responsibility report in 2008 and its second in 2010. Since last year’s report, the company has made significant progress, including:

 

  • Spent $145 million with women- and minority-owned businesses, an increase of 4% versus the prior year.
  • Supported the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, which collected a record 77.1 million pounds of food, to surpass the 1 Billion pound mark over the 18 years the drive has been in existence.

 

  • Provided 145 grants totaling $150,000 through the company’s Dollars For Doers program, which recognizes employee volunteers in the community, more than five times the number of grants awarded the prior year.

 

  • Saved more than 4.5 million pounds in steel, plastic and paper packaging materials in 2010.

 

  • Transitioned a PET beverage bottle supply from the U.S. to a local supplier in Canada, eliminating 750 trucks and their associated environmental impact, from the road.

 

  • Redesigned Shapes and Jatz packaging in Australia, reducing paperboard by 440,000 pounds and eliminating 12,000 pallets from distribution.

 

  • More than 1,000 Camden employees volunteered at 60 different projects during Make A Difference Week in 2010. As part of this effort, they sorted 67,000 pounds of food, harvested 4,000 pounds of fresh produce and taught nutrition education to more than 200 youths.

 

  • The company’s plant safety performance (recordable rate) improved to 2.65 from 2.76, which is nearly one-half the industry average for recordable injuries per 200,000 hours worked.

Campbell has been widely recognized for its corporate social responsibility efforts. The company was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, named #2 on the 100 Best Corporate Citizens List by Corporate Responsibility magazine, named #1 in the HIP100 (Human Impact + Profit) Portfolio, added to the Maplecroft Climate Innovation Index, named to the list of 2010 World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere magazine and named a Catalyst Award winner in 2010.

From the May 11, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.