Danone – Yufei Zhao – 2025

Summary

Yufei ZHAO excelled in her fellowship at Danone China (Jun-Aug 2025), playing a key role in its Compliant and Low-Carbon Supply Chain Project. She was responsible for monitoring suppliers’ environmental compliance, guiding their pollutant data disclosure, and supporting carbon emissions reporting. Her exceptional diligence led over 90 suppliers to disclose critical data, greatly enhancing supply chain transparency and directly contributing to Danone’s top CITI/CATI rankings in China’s F&B industry. Yufei quickly mastered complex regulations, collaborating effectively with internal teams, NGOs, and suppliers to overcome challenges.

Goals

Yufei ZHAO interned at Danone China in Guangzhou, playing a key role in the Compliant and Low-Carbon Supply Chain Project. Tasked with enhancing supply chain sustainability, she monitored suppliers’ environmental compliance, guided pollutant data disclosure, and supported carbon emissions reporting. Collaborating with internal teams, NGOs, and suppliers, he proactively solved challenges to advance Danone’s net-zero goals and ensure regulatory alignment, demonstrating strong communication and problem-solving skills.

Solutions

Yufei ZHAO was entrusted with three critical responsibilities with the IPE platform:
1. Monitoring suppliers’ environmental compliance and reporting any instances of non-compliance.
2. Guiding suppliers in disclosing pollutant release and transfer data, ensuring transparency and regulatory alignment.
3. Supporting suppliers in reporting carbon emissions, contributing to our net-zero climate action goals.

Potential Impact

Through her efforts, over 90 suppliers successfully disclosed their environmental and carbon emission data, significantly enhancing the transparency of Danone’s supply chain. This achievement directly supported Danone’s continued leadership in sustainability, helping Danone maintain first ranking in both the CITI (The Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index) and the CATI index (The Corporate Climate Action Index) within the food and beverage industry in China, with the official announcement scheduled for November 2025.