The company confirmed it would display the Knorr Sustainability Partnership Logo on packs of products containing ingredients that were 100% sustainably sourced.
Unilever committed to source 100% of agricultural ingredients sustainably for all Knorr products by 2020, pledging to ensure the top 13 vegetables and herbs used for Knorr were sustainably sourced by 2015.
It aimed to continue investing €1M annually in sustainable agriculture projects under its Knorr Sustainability Partnership fund and make €10M available by 2020 for further sustainable agriculture initiatives.
Sustainable farming practices
It also promised to showcase farms advanced in sustainable farming practices as ‘Knorr Landmark Farms’.
“It is absolutely critical that sustainable products are clearly labelled and identifiable to the consumer,” said Unilever food category president Antoine de Saint-Affrique. “This is an industry failing that must be remedied – and Knorr wants to lead the charge.”
Unilever simultaneously released results of a survey of 5,500 consumers in 11 countries, indicating 75% would be more likely to buy products with sustainably sourced ingredients.
84% of respondents said they were concerned where ingredients came from and 85% believed it was important that global organisations shared sustainable practices with farmers they worked with.