Unilever ups commitment to sustainability in 2012

Eelco Camminga, vice president of Unilever for the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan has spoken out on the first day of Gulfood about the company’s commitment to sustainability over the next eight years.

“By 2020 we will double the size of the company and halve the size of our environmental impact,” he said.

“We’ve definitely noticed a change in needs of our customers, and as well as a trend for healthy eating we’ve also noticed a drive towards sustainability.

“We have more than 200 million products at the moment sourced from all over the world. We intend to source more responsibly, from more responsible manufacturers. We are working with responsible tea growers and are monitoring the supply chain. We are looking at the packaging our products come in and seeing how we can reduce waste. Not following these kind of practices is bad for business and bad for the planet,” he continued.

When asked if this was a relatively new phenomenon in the Middle East, Camminga said: “Sustainable practices haven’t caught on as much as they should have here. It’s still a growing economy – the focus is always going to be first and foremost on growth. But now they’re going to have to be smarter."