Mondelēz 2023 Snacking Made Right Report: Letter from Chairman & CEO
Dirk Van de Put, Chairman & CEO, Mondelēz International
I am incredibly proud of our work in 2023 to continue meeting evolving consumer preferences and delivering strong results while making meaningful progress against our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) priorities. We made this progress despite ongoing global inflation and economic uncertainty, a testament not only to the power of our iconic brands, but also to our focused and strategic approach to sustainable growth and the passion of our amazing 91,000 colleagues around the world.
This year we strengthened and refined our portfolio with substantial investments in our beloved brands through innovation, renovation and reformulation. This is coupled with acquisitions of companies such as Clif Bar & Company (Clif), whose commitment to well-being and the environment closely aligns with our mission and supports our purpose of empowering people to snack right. Furthermore, we continued to advance communication on Mindful Snacking and achieved quantifiable progress against the sustainability goals detailed in this report.
From reducing our climate impact through tangible actions, like transitioning to renewable energy sources across many of our manufacturing facilities, to scaling regenerative agricultural practices across our sustainable ingredient sourcing programs, we continue to build on progress against our 2025 ESG goals. I am pleased to say this year’s Snacking Made Right report demonstrates measurable action against our long-term ambitions, including the aspiration to reach gender parity across our business leadership teams and realize a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Particularly amid a dynamic environment that faces rising inflation, we remain focused on more sustainable sourcing. Prices of cocoa, a key ingredient for many of our brands at Mondelēz International, have risen considerably as a result of declining supply of cocoa over the course of this calendar year, largely due to weather’s impact on crop yield. Our sourcing strategies and our Cocoa Life signature sustainable sourcing program continue to address these challenges and build a more resilient supply of this important ingredient. Through Cocoa Life, we have been investing to lift up people and restore landscapes where cocoa grows as we, and our sector more broadly, plan for the future.
We have prioritized industry and sector-wide collaboration, partnerships and advocacy as essential to deliver against our longterm ambitions. As such, we work in partnership with suppliers and across our value chain, and we play a leadership role in industry coalitions, including the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) which I CoChair and the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) which my Chief Sustainability & Impact Officer Chairs.
I’m delighted to note that our sustainability efforts have earned us high-profile recognition. In 2023, Barron’s placed us on its list of the 100 “Most Sustainable U.S. Companies,” and Newsweek named us one of “America’s Most Responsible Companies.” We have earned this recognition while continuing to win the loyalty of our consumers.
The wide range of choices we offer as part of our Snacking Made Right mission, along with our strategic focus on chocolate, biscuits and baked snacks – categories we aim to represent 90% of our portfolio as part of our long-term growth strategy – strongly aligns with current consumer priorities.
Our diverse portfolio and focused categories keep us at the forefront of snacking, where, as leaders, we continue to pave the way in proving the resiliency of our brands despite disruptions, challenges and emerging trends, including the advent of weight-loss drugs. We can confidently say snacking is here to stay and believe we are well positioned for long-term sustainable business growth.
We know there is a continued place for mindful indulgence in a balanced lifestyle. Our chocolate portfolio in particular, including beloved brands such as Cadbury, Toblerone and Milka, is wellattuned to the 85% of consumers polled in 2023 who confirm they are likely to savor an indulgent snack. And our portfolio offers choice, featuring healthier alternatives such as belVita biscuits and whole-grain snack bars, as well as portion-control products that contain less than 200 calories and now generate nearly 20% of our sales.
Our focus on mindful snacking is being applied across our entire portfolio in support of our mission to offer the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way. By 2025 we aim for up to 100% of our net revenue from our snacking portfolio through Mindful Portion Snacks, those in either individually wrapped mindful portion serving sizes or with mindful portion labeling.
Driving against our ESG goals is fundamental to enabling our longterm growth, holding our leadership position in snacking and advancing a business that will remain resilient for many years to come. At the heart of this lies the winning growth culture we continue to create in support of our people who lie at the center of these efforts.
We continue to map our disclosures against existing frameworks, including the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), in response to stakeholder feedback, and we continue to assess new frameworks and conventions for potential adoption.
In 2024, we remain focused on further empowering people to snack right by honing our portfolio, strengthening our brands and continuing to execute with excellence and innovation. I believe that these efforts are setting us up for years of high-quality sustainable growth and I remain humbled to advance the important work of Snacking Made Right for generations to come.
Dirk Van de Put
Chairman & CEO,
Mondelēz International
