Innovation

From collaborating with growers, especially of tomatoes, to implementing the largest solar array in its headquarters’ city of Camden, New Jersey, to the reduction of energy and water consumption, as well as reductions in packaging, Campbell Soup rightfully claims to be a champion in the industry of pursuing sustainable practices throughout the organization. Each innovation that Campbell Soup adopts, brings it closer to reaching, not only its own sustainability goals, but also helps contribute toward the work that companies all around the world are doing to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Inspiration

Dave Stangis, with his background in environmental health and safety, built out a corporate social responsibility function at another company before starting his position at Campbell, where he was looking to continue his work at a big company with a complex supply chain. He found just that at Campbell, and what started as a function consisting of just him, soon became a department of approximately 5-10 people over the years. He says that this team operates as a small strategy group for the organization and all of the other functions within it, “That’s how we integrate what we’re doing so we’re not operating on an island; we’re helping all of these functions either improve in the manufacturing or procurement world or leverage some of the work we’re doing for example in marketing or communications. This is the way I’ve found works best to have the biggest impact.” This helps to ensure that the sustainability principles and practices developed permeate the rest of the organization to create a culture focused on those goals in the capacity that fits each specific department.

When speaking about the work that he does, Dave Stangis notes that he mostly focuses on change management, although the technical aspects of the business are just as important to know. This change management includes setting goals and targets and finding ways for everyone to have a role in carrying out the strategy. This type of work is consistent and applicable in any company, where what is learned can be transferred across the board. In stating that there is actually some collaboration among his peers at other big companies, Dave further demonstrates how working together and sharing the knowledge of what is learned in the industry is a great way to make collective progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals around the world.

Overall impact

In looking at the impact of the work that Campbell Soup has done around sustainability, it is noted that depending on how each sustainable development goal is looked at, it can be said that they are doing work in each category. The goals that are most prominently being addressed by Campbell, however, are the following: 2: Zero Hunger, 3: Good Health and Well-Being, and 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. In order to derive benefit to the business, as well as society and the environment, there has to be the willingness of the leadership to invest in people with the time and resources needed to fully develop sustainable initiatives. With cost and organizational culture being major factors, it is clear that Campbell values the importance of this work, and the payoff of it can be seen in the sections below.

Business benefit

A major misconception in the business world is that sustainability ultimately costs a company money. As shown through the Campbell Soup example, sustainability has resulted in saving the company money over time, as well as adding value for consumers and investors who believe in these initiatives and view it as a holistic representation of the company’s mission. Campbell has found ways that the business can be prosperous while still being sustainable. For example, in the first five years, Dave Stangis’s team says the company saved more than $100 million in energy and water costs by implementing capital equipment and operational practices that allows for the reusing of energy and water. He says, “We put in a lot of industrial systems through capital expenses that reuse water. Once we used it to clean something, we might use it to heat or chill something else. As we add energy into water to heat it up, we make sure we use that heat over and over again.” This helps the company to not only save money in the long term, but in the short term, as well.

In addition to energy costs, more than 100 million pounds of packaging were eliminated in the first couple years, amounting to saving of about $1 per pound. The costs that the company must balance, however, are the short-term procurement costs, due to the increased price of sustainable ingredients, such as cage free eggs and organic ingredients. This is the balance that must be constantly analyzed to ensure they are spending the right amount to still be making money that sustains the company’s long term growth, while maintaining their corporate social responsibility that is owed consumers, investors, communities, and the environment that they operate in.

Social and environmental benefit

Campbell Soup’s initiatives also go further than just the business payoff, extending to the societal and environmental space that helps to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as mentioned above. They have recognized that resources, such as water and energy, are not “free” and are finding ways to reuse it. They make sure their products are accessible to everyone by managing the price point. They avoid forced labor throughout their supply chain and contribute to hunger relief. Another major effort is to work with their growers, especially of tomatoes, to help implement irrigation systems, therefore, reducing water use. As Campbell is constantly innovating, Dave Stangis notes, “More recently, it’s gotten a little more sophisticated and further into the value chain. We’ve done some work on fertilizer intensity reduction in fields and working with farmers around sustainable agriculture that have broader implications for water and energy.” These efforts are continuously expanded upon to keep championing the work that improves not only the company’s bottom line, but leaves a positive impact on the world it operates in.

Dave Stangis and his team at Campbell Soup also recognize that this type of work is never complete. There is always something new to work towards. In the future, he would like to see Campbell make more longer term investment in sustainable agriculture. He says, “There’s a difference between saying you’re for it and investing in the infrastructure. If we want the agricultural system to change, and we talk about it all the time, we should be investing in the actual infrastructure of the agricultural systems.” This emphasizes the need for companies to put their beliefs into action with practical solutions. Even if the solution is not yet known, by investing in the development going forward, it shows that the company is committed to its goals. It is especially up to the bigger companies, who have the available resources, to start the initiatives and drive what can be learned from them, so that the smaller companies can follow in their footsteps. While Campbell faces some current challenges, such as leadership turnover, metrics and data constantly changing, and integration of internal systems, year over year, the company still remains dedicated to its goals and the role that they can play in creating a responsible and ethically sourced product for consumers in an ever-changing world: “As Campbell evolves, the strategy will evolve.”

For more information on The Campbell Soup Company, please visit:

https://www.campbells.com/campbell-soup/

https://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/newsroom/

Interview

Dave Stangis, Chief Sustainability Officer