We work toward a healthier environment from fields to factories to families, promoting sustainable ecosystems and making a positive impact in every thing we do.
We are committed to combating climate change and mitigating its impacts. We’re working to do this by:
As a company that makes food, we can play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fiscal 2021, we developed a science-based target, which provides a pathway to reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals. Our target was approved by the Science Based Targets initiative in January 2022.
We are committed to reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% on an absolute basis by fiscal 2030 as compared to fiscal 2020. We also committed to reducing absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services and upstream transportation and distribution by 25% within the same timeframe.
We continue to drive resource conservation at our plants through energy and water efficiency improvements, onsite renewables, and employee training to promote behavioral changes. Last year, we ran energy assessments with external consultants at five of our larger sites. Based on their recommendations, we’re making equipment upgrades and replacements, improvements to preventative maintenance plans, and behavioral and process changes. We’ll also conduct energy assessments at additional sites and expect to increase renewable electricity in our portfolio to help us achieve our new science-based target to reduce emissions.
Renewable Electricity
of our electricity is from renewable sources.
Solar Installations
solar installations across our footprint, including a 26-acre solar field in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
GHG emissions reduction
reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since fiscal 2020.
The farmers we work with play a significant role in making the food you love to eat. We work together with these suppliers and other supply chain partners to improve sustainability on farms that grow our tomatoes, wheat, potatoes, almonds, and cashews.
Over the years we’ve formed close partnerships with our tomato farmers. Many of the family-owned farms that supply our tomatoes are located within just five miles of our processing plants in California and have been our partners for decades. We have worked together to implement more sustainable agricultural practices, including drip irrigation. As a result, we’ve seen a 26% reduction in GHG emissions per short ton of tomatoes and a 23% reduction in water use per pound of tomatoes.
After expanding our wheat sustainability program in 2021, we’re now supporting farmers throughout Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah. We’re proud of the farmers who are advancing sustainable agricultural practices on 108,000 acres of wheat, reducing their use of fertilizers, protecting waterways, and mitigating the risk of climate change.
In 2021, we surveyed our potato growers and confirmed that they all follow integrated pest management practices, such as continually monitoring potato fields for pests and implementing some level of non-chemical pest control. We’re working with the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Institute to assess pesticide risks and risk-reduction opportunities.
Last year, we launched sustainability programs for our newest priority ingredients: almonds and cashews. We’re working with our almond growers in California to track almond pollinator health. Farmers can compare their practices against peers, access sustainability management tools, and demonstrate compliance with third-party certification standards.
For our cashew supply chain, we’re working with our supplier to support smallholder farmers in West Africa to strengthen farmer livelihoods and support farm sustainability.
Responsible pest management only increases in importance as farmers deal with the consequences of climate change. We’re committed to working with farmers and industry experts to reduce pesticide risks using a three-part strategy:
WHEAT SUSTAINABILITY
acres now covered by our wheat sustainability program.
PROTECTING SOIL HEALTH
of our tomato farmers use crop rotations, and have reduced tractor passes or tillage events, in their fields.
PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY
of our contracted potato farmers protect environmentally sensitive areas on their farms.
Campbell’s commitment to farmers has been both long-term and reliable, which allows us to trust the stability of the relationship and feel more secure in making long-term investments in our operations.Blake Harlan, President of Harlan Family Ranch and Campbell tomato grower-supplier since 1990
Campbell’s commitment to farmers has been both long-term and reliable, which allows us to trust the stability of the relationship and feel more secure in making long-term investments in our operations.
The ingredients that go into the food you love come from the earth and need water to grow. We know just how precious that water is. We continue to find ways to manage and protect our water resources—both in our own operations and on the farms we source from.
Last year, we completed a water inventory and risk assessment of our direct operations and supply chain.
Twenty of our facilities were identified as having basin-level water risks, which means there may be risks including seasonal variability, droughts, floods, or water quality risk.
New this year, we’ve included our suppliers in the process. Twenty priority ingredients and packaging materials have been identified in our water risk assessment. Over 100 suppliers, representing 56% of supply chain (ingredient and packaging) water consumption, were surveyed and identified as having basin-level water risks.
We continue to track progress against our current goal to reduce water use in our operations by 20% by fiscal 2025. The water inventory and risk assessment lay the foundation for further work and goal setting.
Are you a Sour Cream & Onion Cape Cod chips aficionado? Can’t get enough of Sea Salt and Vinegar? Whatever your favorite is, you’ll love hearing that our Charlotte, North Carolina plant—one of the places where we make Cape Cod potato chips—saves up to 5 million gallons of water each year.
It’s thanks to a process that takes potato skins and separates the water from the skins. Then the water is filtered, recirculated, and used to peel potatoes.
water risks
supply chain water inventory and risk assessment completed in 2021.
operational water reduction
reduction in water used at our plants since fiscal 2017.
Farm-Level Water Reduction
of our tomatoes are grown utilizing drip irrigation, driving a 23% water use reduction from 2012 to 2020.
Reducing waste in the plants where our food is made is particularly important to us.
Here’s how we’re addressing this issue:
Sometimes potatoes are too small to be used for potato chips. The potatoes that don’t meet our chip size requirements can be sent to our soup plants, where a wider range of potato sizes can be used. An added benefit last year: it helped us meet the increased soup demand during COVID-19.
Goal
reduction in food waste by fiscal 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 (compared to fiscal 2017).
GOAL
reduction in waste sent to landfills (on an absolute basis) by fiscal 2025 (compared to fiscal 2017).
By improving the design and recyclability of our packaging, we’re reducing our environmental footprint. Our four packaging sustainability goals address all phases of a package’s life cycle, from sourcing the material to the end-of-life of the package:
After two years in development, we began producing a new V8 bottle in August 2021. The redesigned bottle uses less plastic and is projected to save about 2.5 million pounds of plastic per year.
About 300 million Pepperidge Farm and Goldfish bags—equivalent to about 10 million pounds of packaging—can now be recycled each year.
Until now, the paper bags used to package Pepperidge Farm cookies, Farmhouse cookies, and Goldfish crackers had been considered non-recyclable because of the thin plastic coating and multi-layer structure. This year we worked with Western Michigan University to conduct pulpability and recyclability studies. The studies determined that the paper we’re using could in fact be recycled because the amount of plastic coating is very small and can be removed in the pulping process.
Beyond the engagement with Western Michigan University, our team consulted many partners to confirm the recyclability of our signature bags, including the Institute of Scrap Recycling, The Carton Council, and How2Recycle. The How2Recycle tile will be updated on packaging starting this year to denote that the packaging is now recyclable.
The How2Recycle labeling system, developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), is a standardized way of making recycling easy. To help you better understand which packages are recyclable and how to recycle correctly, we feature a How2Recycle tile with instructions on our packaging. About 70% of our products are labeled and our goal is to include the tile on all our packaging by the end of the year.
In 2020 we became proud members of The Recycling Partnership, supporting its mission to drive measurable improvements in recycling and modernize the U.S. residential recycling system.
From 2020 through July 2021, The Recycling Partnership, with the support of its members, has:
recyclable packaging
of our packaging by weight is recyclable.
reducing plastic
pounds of plastic saved each year with redesigned V8 bottles.
ENCOURAGING PROPER RECYCLING
of our products have the How2Recycle labels on the package.
Interested in learning more about our approach to being a good corporate citizen? Explore more:
