In June, Unilever-owned condiment brand Sir Kensington’s released its inaugural impact report.
The 35-page document detailed its commitment to sustainability, but also information on everything from the certification of eggs in its mayo to its efforts to create a more traceable supply chain for avocados, and emissions across every aspect of the business – all the way down to the impact of its employees’ commutes.
The report was a way to demonstrate that the brand’s commitment to sustainability is way more than talk, says general manager Alex Medeiros.
“We published our Integrity Report, The Food Fight, to address some of our biggest harms on the planet, signal we’re not messing around, and show we have the courage to publicly hold ourselves accountable for continuous improvement. We also hope it inspires other companies that have been working behind the scenes on their sustainability efforts to be open about their progress and their challenges, too.”
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To what extent, though, does he think consumers want to trawl through 35 pages of data and in-depth info? “While we know most people don’t read sustainability reports cover to cover, we’ve tried to create a report that is simultaneously data-driven and backed by some pretty unsexy processes, while also being incredibly enjoyable to read,” says Medeiros.
The company makes efforts to communicate its track record across plenty of other channels too, including its social media and online community of foodie enthusiasts, Taste Buds, which currently has more than 300,000 members.
In fact, the brand accessed this online community of foodie enthusiasts to gauge exactly how well understood its marketing efforts on the topic were.
“While 72% of respondents felt that Sir Kensington’s has a strong impact strategy, 25% of eaters feel impact strategies, in general, are just marketing. This shows that we, along with other organisations that are committed to impact and sustainability, have some work to do to ensure customers see beyond marketing and understand the real work that is happening to address sustainability.”
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