The Hershey Company Thursday announced it has been selected to both the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Index.
Hershey is one of only 13 companies from the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Industry in the World Index and ranked in the 93rd percentile overall. This is the third year in a row Hershey has been included in the North America Index and the second year Hershey has been named to the World Index.
Hershey’s selection to the prestigious World Index reflects the company’s substantial progress in its global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. Over the course of the last few years, Hershey has made significant strides in its environmental sustainability and sustainable sourcing efforts, completing many of its long-range goals and phased commitments ahead of schedule.
The company’s environmental achievements, outlined in Hershey’s third CSR report, include the following notable improvements:
— Seventy-two percent water reduction;
— Thirty-eight percent waste reduction;
— Twenty-three percent greenhouse gas emissions reduction;
— Corporate-wide recycling rate of 87 percent; and
— A total of 12 Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) facilities – including seven manufacturing facilities. Ninety-seven percent of Hershey’s U.S. production takes place at ZWL facilities.
In sustainable sourcing, Hershey’s Cocoalink program was found to have “significantly improved the livelihoods” of Ghanaian cocoa farmers. Approximately 45,000 Ghanaian cocoa farmers are enrolled in the mobile technology program, and farmers in Cocoalink communities increased their yields by 45.6 percent in three years. After the success of the Cocoalink in Ghana, Hershey has plans to expand the program to cocoa-growing regions in Côte d’Ivoire.
Hershey also committed to purchasing 100 percent traceable and sustainably sourced palm oil late last year after announcing it had achieved 100 percent mass balanced RSPO certified palm oil one year ahead of schedule.
“Hershey’s inclusion in the North America and World Index builds on our positive momentum since announcing in May that we have completed sixty percent of our long-range CSR goals. It is clear validation that our accomplishments in a wide range of CSR areas, from environmental sustainability to ethical sourcing, are recognized within the sustainability community,” said Terry O’Day, Senior Vice President Chief Supply Chain Officer. “We are pleased that we continue to push ourselves to deliver improvements across a broad range of meaningful sustainability objectives.”
Hershey’s heritage of engaging with consumers and communities began with the company’s founding more than 120 years ago and is rooted in a tradition of ethical business practices, remarkable employees and giving back to its communities.
Hershey integrates CSR into its business strategies through its social mission for Shared Goodness, helping children and their communities around the world achieve a better life and bright future.
The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes are determined by SAM (Sustainable Asset Management), in partnership with the S&P and Dow Jones Indices. They are the first global sustainability benchmarks that track the financial performance and sustainable business practices of the world’s leading companies using economic, environmental and social criteria.
The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index was launched in September 1999 and tracks the performance of the top 10 percent of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index that lead the field in terms of sustainability. DJSI North America launched in September 2005 and represents the top 20 percent of the 600 largest companies in the North America Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market.
