Bel’s new company signature – ‘For All, For Good’ – encapsulates the company’s enduring mission of ‘championing healthier and responsible food for all’. A lovely précis of the idea that Bel products must be accessible to everyone on the planet, combined with the Bel approach of doing everything in the ‘right’ way to create a sustainable food revolution for the planet.
Corporate Social Responsibility as a way of thinking has been deeply embedded at Bel for many years: and the new strapline, accompanied by a corporate re-brand and a zingy green logo, brings fresh focus and urgency. There’s also a raft of measurable initiatives, centring around 5 key areas:
- Sustainable Farming
- Healthier Food
- More Responsible Packaging
- Fight Against Climate Change
- Accessibility and Affordability
Sustainable Farming
Building on the success of initiatives such as the ‘Free-Grazing Promise’ (on all UK Leerdammer® products), and ‘Best Practice in Agriculture’ Charter in France (where iconic brands such as Mini Babybel® and The Laughing Cow ® are made), Bel have now launched the ‘Sustainable Upstream Dairy Charter’. Co-written with the World Wildlife Fund, the ultimate goal is to propagate farming methods which are more respectful of the planet and deliver more responsible products. For example, more pasture-grazing, GM-free animal feed or even different approaches to farming methods.
Healthier Food
From the beginning of the Bel story back in 1865, Bel’s portions of cheese have been something more than simply good food. The focus is, and has always been on making cheeses every bit as nutritious as they are (very) delicious. Bel have re-formulated around 1/3rdof their products in the last 5 years to make them more natural and will always be the cheerleader for good eating behaviour…that is to say, good food, enjoyed well with a touch of moderation and a burst of exercise.
More Responsible Packaging
There’s a clear target of making 100% of packaging recyclable and/or biodegradable by 2025. Already achieved on Leerdammer in the UK, the teams are working hard on the other brands….watch this space.
The Fight against Climate Change
Bel teams are pushing hard on this project and factory emissions have been reduced by 39% since 2008 (per metric tonne of cheese produced).
But it’s a collective effort, and Bel have signed up with other responsible companies to the UN Compact/WWF*-sponsored Science Based Targets initiative…committing to cutting the greenhouse effect of the entire value chain and help keep global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees C.
Accessibility & Affordability
Bel are constantly innovating to deliver nutritious, delicious products which are responsibly made and affordable and available, all over the world. An example is our imaginative ‘Sharing Cities’ programme which supports consumers and street vendors in cities as far apart and as diverse as Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Hanoi, Vietnam1.
‘For All for Good’ represents an up-to-date expression of Bel’s long-held determination to act responsibly every step of the journey, from farm to fork.
Bel. For All, For Good.
(*Along with CDP and World Resources Institute)
1 10, 243 km apart