One of Australia’s most popular chocolate brands, KitKat, has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025.
The pledge will see KitKat globally aiming to reduce emissions generated through ingredient sourcing, manufacturing and distribution by more than 50 per cent.
As most emissions occur when producing KitKat’s ingredients like cocoa and milk, the brand’s efforts to restore forests and support a transition to regenerative agriculture will aim to reduce these emissions as much as possible.
KitKat will invest in high quality offsetting based on natural climate solutions for any emissions that cannot be eliminated.
KitKat is working with global climate change and sustainability consultancy The Carbon Trust to measure the brand’s current carbon footprint. This process will be completed later this year.
Deforestation is one of the main global drivers of carbon emissions in the agricultural supply chain. Nestlé has used a variety of tools over the last 10 years, including ingredient certification, supply chain mapping and satellite imagery to achieve its no-deforestation commitment.
KitKat is working to improve the environmental footprint of its factories. It has already reduced the energy required to produce KitKat by more than 40 per cent per tonne of product since 2000.
Nestlé is using renewable electricity at an increasing number of manufacturing sites and will use 100 per cent renewable electricity at all KitKat factories before the end of 2025.
In Australia, the KitKat factory in Melbourne is now working toward using 100 per cent renewable electricity, as well as continuing initiatives to reduce its impact by reducing waste to landfill and energy use.
KitKat has a history of improving the sustainability of its supply chain that dates back more than a decade. In 2009, Nestlé launched the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, sourcing 100 per cent of the cocoa used for KitKat in Australia in 2013, and 100 per cent of the cocoa used for KitKat globally by since 2016.
Nestlé has planted more than 15 million cocoa trees and invested more than $420 million incocoa sustainability as part of this work.
Nestlé is committed to reaching net zero emissions everywhere by no later than 2050 throughout its value chain.