TORONTO — Lactalis Canada has released its Lactalis Canada’s 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, which highlights the company’s ongoing efforts to drive meaningful change for its people and communities, as well as the environment.
With regard to people and communities, Lactalis Canada has committed to increased focus and investments in diversity, equity and inclusion and mental-health supports for employees; a $2.9 million investment in more than 50 charitable organizations across the country; and partnering with the David Suzuki Foundation’s Butterflyway Project at the company’s Winchester, Ont. facility to create pollinator gardens and help restore habitats.
Next, in terms of authentic products and heritage, Lactalis Canada optimized milk supply during the height of the pandemic to reduce waste on farms; doubled the intake and processing of organic milk from Canadian farms; and advanced “clean-label” initiatives to simplify ingredient declarations on products.
Finally, with regard to land and resources, Lactalis has doubled the use of the Canadian rail network in less than two years, resulting in a 70-per-cent reduction in CO2 emissions in transportation, and implemented 12 corrugate-cardboard projects, eliminating almost 52,000kgs of corrugate cardboard from use as packaging, saving roughly 900 trees annually.
“[The report] serves as a clear roadmap; one that embraces our key stakeholders, including our people, consumers, customers, suppliers, dairy farmers, government and industry partners to join us on this important journey and make a positive impact on the wellbeing of our communities and the planet,” says Mark Taylor, president and CEO, Lactalis Canada. “This is the first step in a multi-year transformation plan that we expect will manage future risks and reflect the growth, evolution and innovation of our business. It will enable us to take proactive, sustainable and responsible action towards the ESG challenges and opportunities ahead of us. While we aspire to achieve ambitious and important goals, we are also realistic and understand that our journey will require us to take some smaller, but equally important steps in the short term, if we are to build the pathways to longer-term benefits. Our focus is on the journey and not simply on the destination. We know where we want to get to and each tangible gain will serve as an important marker as we strive to be better each and every day.”
