Hershey Company – Anne Garsztka – 2023

Goals

Hershey committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) by setting a target aligned with 1.5C pathways. In addition, Hershey strategically prioritizes their key ingredients and materials (cocoa, dairy, sugar, palm oil, and pulp and paper packaging) so they can make the biggest impact while reducing risks in their supply chain.

Hershey enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow, Anne Garsztka, to support the team in developing the GHG reduction roadmap for the sugar supply chain.

Solutions

Anne led the development of Hershey’s roadmap to reduce sugar emissions.

• GHG Analysis: Identified the primary drivers of the carbon footprint of beet and cane sugar, leveraging Quantis’ World Food Lifecycle Database and EcoInvent’s LCA database and supplier-developed emissions factors.
• Sustainable Agriculture Practice Analysis: Identified practices and technologies to reduce GHG emissions associated with sugar cane and sugar beet; modeled the potential emission reduction, feasibility, and cost of implementation of identified practices.
• Supplier Engagement: Identified vital touch points in the supplier network and avenues to engage and collaborate with Hershey’s’ sugar suppliers.

Potential Impact

Sugar sustainability is an important part of Hershey’s GHG reduction strategy. Anne’s work helped contribute to Hershey’s GHG reduction strategy by exploring opportunities in their sugar supply chain, building robust tools that provided clear insights, and increasing awareness and educating the team on sugar sustainability strategies that will help spur further progress toward their Scope 3 GHG emission reduction goal.