Carbon-neutral formula: Danone’s New Zealand baby brand to bolster packaging and offset emissions

09 Oct 2020 --- Karicare, Danone’s New Zealand infant and toddler formula brand, is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality at each stage of the product life cycle by 2030. The move is part of Danone’s global ambition to be a net-zero carbon company by 2050.

“Danone’s approach to carbon neutrality is to focus first on reducing our CO2 emissions. With Karicare, we are looking at each stage of the product life cycle,” Scott Pettet, head of corporate affairs at Danone Oceania, tells NutritionInsight.

These aspects range from the farming practices carried out in producing the ingredients to manufacturing and packaging considerations. “The main challenge will be the relentless pursuit of emissions reductions, year-on-year,” says Pettet.

Consumer demand for planetary health
The plans to communicate this shift to consumers have not yet been finalized. However, Pettet says the key is for consumers to understand there are more sustainable choices they can make that can help contribute to better planetary health.  

“Increasingly, we are seeing greater consumer interest in sustainability topics and more appetite to make purchase decisions based on independently certified green credentials.”

The newly launched Karicare Gold Plus+ Organic will be certified carbon neutral in 2022.Innova Market Insight crowned “The Sustain Domain” its third top trend for 2020. The proportion of global consumers who expect companies to invest in sustainability rose from 65 percent in 2018 to 87 percent in 2019.

To Pettet’s knowledge, there is only one other formula brand globally that has also made this carbon neutral commitment. In July, Danone’s baby formula production facility in Ireland became the world’s first facility of its kind to be certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust. 

A US$20 million boiler
The term “carbon neutrality” refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This is typically achieved by balancing carbon dioxide emissions with carbon removal or simply eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether.

“In terms of Karicare’s carbon-neutral ambition, this will be achieved through a combination of emissions reductions and carbon removal through the purchasing of carbon offsets,” says Pettet. 

One of the first steps in making the infant formula carbon neutral is installing a biomass boiler to provide renewable heat at Danone’s South Island spray drying facility in Balclutha.

Announced in July 2019, the NZ$30 million (US$20 million) boiler will be operational in 2021 and will eliminate around 20,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.

Danone will also move to 100 percent renewable electricity for all its New Zealand plants next year. Between the move to renewable energy and biomass-based heating, the Balclutha plant’s total operational CO2 emissions will be reduced by 95 percent.

Improving packaging credentials 
The company aims to make packaging 100 percent circular across all its brands. This means eliminating unnecessary packaging, designing for recycling, reusing or composting, and ensuring that the material produced stays in the economy and doesn’t become waste or pollution.

According to Danone, this approach to packaging reduces carbon emissions through greater reuse and recycling, leading to less reliance on virgin materials. Innova Market Insights has spotlighted increasing consumer awareness for products’ environmental impacts. 

Karicare’s packaging across the total portfolio has a high level of recyclability due to the use of tin plate in its cans and the widespread use of recyclable plastics for items such as scoops and snap-seal lids. Consistent with Danone’s global ambition, all Karicare’s packaging will be either recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

The formula joins other Danone brands such as Horizon Organic, which has also committed to carbon neutrality, and Evian and Volvic, which are already carbon neutral. Earlier this year, Danone Canada joined forces with four companies to create the Circular Plastics Taskforce.

In February, the company launched a digitally-enabled data service for baby formula applications called Track & Connect. The technology gives consumers and retailers greater transparency on the product’s farm-to-fork journey.

Other companies have also been reassessing packaging in the infant nutrition sector, with Nestlé launching what is marketed as the first-of-its-kind, single-material pouch for baby food products. 

Meanwhile, FrieslandCampina offers an “ultra-premium” organic milk formula with on-pack traceability features.

Prioritizing reductions
Karicare’s road to carbon-neutrality will start with the newly launched Karicare Gold Plus+ Organic, which will be certified carbon neutral in 2022. All other products in the Karicare range will be progressively certified up to 2030 at the latest.

“Danone’s approach to carbon neutrality is to focus on reductions first and foremost,” says Rodrigo Lima, managing director of Nutricia Oceania.

“With carbon-neutral Karicare, we’re providing consumers with a more sustainable option and giving them the opportunity to choose a better future for their family.”

New Zealand advantages
The company notes that Karicare’s journey to carbon neutrality is greatly aided by its production in New Zealand, a country well-known for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

These efforts include an abundance of “green” power and investments in clean transportation. New Zealand also has an ambition to be net-zero on greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Danone will work with its New Zealand suppliers and farmers to foster regenerative agricultural practices and improve soil health. It will also continue to invest in the decarbonization of operations and focus on packaging circularity.

By Katherine Durrell