Czarnikow’s VIVE Programme launches its new Climate Action initiative to reduce carbon emissions in sugar supply chains, in partnership with Quantis

January 10, 2023 | The VIVE Programme, a sustainability programme based on continuous improvement for the food and beverage industry, strengthens its commitment to tackling the climate emergency by announcing its new Climate Action programme today. Developed over the past 12 months with partner Quantis, a leading environmental sustainability consultancy recently acquired by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the programme enables businesses across the sugar supply chain to effectively measure and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in alignment with science-based targets. Pilot programmes are already taking place in Thailand and Brazil.

To activate reductions across the supply chain, where most of food and beverage companies’ emission lie, the industry will need to overcome complex carbon accounting challenges. Through providing accurate data and on-the-ground expertise, with the promise of commercial advantage and license to operate, this innovative programme will enable sugar producers to improve the sustainability of their operations. In turn, this will allow food and beverage multinationals to make carbon reductions within their supply chains through carbon ‘insetting’ (reducing emissions through interventions within their own value chain), without reliance on carbon offsetting or estimates. Around 100 food companies are part of the Buyers Supporting VIVE platform, including Coca Cola, Nestlé, Heineken, Kerry Foods, Barry Callebaut and Friesland Campina, in addition to global producers, processors, logistics companies and chain of custody organisations. 

VIVE Climate Action will empower those in sugar supply chains to measure their emissions, create science-based reductions targets and set them into action with VIVE’s support. Carbon emissions will be reduced at farm and factory level through more sustainable farming and milling practices, and throughout the supply chain through less carbon-intensive logistics strategies. VIVE’s Energy Module already supports sugar mills in Brazil to generate renewable energy from their waste products, making them energy efficient, low carbon, and able to sell excess energy to the grid.  

The VIVE Programme is run by Czarnikow (CZ), a leading supply chain services company with over 160 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, and Intellync, a data-driven agricultural supply chain company, collaborating through a shared committed to sustainability. CZ’s end-to-end position within global supply chains and ability to influence the ecosystem will facilitate real change through its core strengths of on the ground experience, relationship management and problem solving. Quantis provided the depth of experience and knowledge in corporate climate action required to design and implement this new programme, helping VIVE address challenges and choices in the strategy, the business model and the metrics.

Wassim Sasso, Senior Trader at CZ who has been leading this project, says “VIVE Climate Action is uniquely positioned to drive change in the sugar industry and deliver on ambitious climate goals. Our focus is on designing and implementing supply chain interventions based on primary data, allowing us to focus on the most impactful and highest returning activities. We believe that sustainability goes hand-in-hand with commercial benefit, and this informs every aspect of our approach. We’re under pressure to move quickly – the climate crisis is gaining urgency by the day – but we’re also excited for the challenge and the opportunity to make a difference.”

Ben French, Manager of VIVE says “We must accelerate the process. It is not enough to measure baselines and provide guidance on reductions; actions must be taken, and commercial support is essential. Having shared responsibility across all supply chain stakeholders is critical. As such, we will create commercial partnerships with key players and mobilise the ecosystem of farmers, millers, refiners, banks, Ag-tech, traders and logistics providers towards a low-carbon sugar supply chain.” 

Jon Dettling of Quantis says, “VIVE has developed a robust method that goes further than measurement, with the potential to drive meaningful change in the food and beverage industry by unlocking emissions reductions opportunities in the sugar supply chain — a critical lever for the sustainable transformation of the food system. It has been a pleasure to collaborate for the past year and I look forward to further roll-out of the programme.”

ABOUT THE VIVE PROGRAMME

The VIVE Programme is a voluntary sustainability programme run by CZ (Czarnikow) and Intellync. Its aim is to build sustainable supply chains while also delivering commercial advantage.

Driving continuous improvement is fundamental to the VIVE programme. To create initial impetus, VIVE’s data capture includes an assessment of current performance with projections for performance over the next two years. It is designed to enable participants to join at different entry levels, reflecting the stage of advancement of their sustainability journey while expanding their sustainability agenda over time.

viveprogramme.com

ABOUT QUANTIS

Quantis is a global sustainability consultancy pioneering approaches to solve critical environmental challenges. The group partners with leading organizations who are serious about reducing their environmental impacts to future-proof their businesses and prosper in a new planetary economy. Quantis’ unique approach combines deep environmental expertise, strategic business knowledge, and enterprise transformation skills to help organizations shape policies, practices and business models that align with the planet’s capacity while building resilience, unlocking innovation, and optimizing performance.

With offices in the US, France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy and clients around the world, Quantis is a key partner in inspiring sustainable change on a global scale.

Discover Quantis at www.quantis.com