17/09/2020 – Today, Alpro is celebrating 40 years of leadership in plant-based innovation for consumers. From its beginnings as a local company developing plant-based foods and drinks for specialised consumer needs, Alpro has played an important role in contributing to a healthy society and planet. The iconic brand, with Belgian origins and heritage, has expanded across Europe and the world with a great variety of plant-based foods and drinks. Alpro joined the Danone family of brands in 2017, and is further growing its unique strengths to lead the change as part of Danone and drive a worldwide “Food Revolution”.
Four decades of pioneering
Since 1980, Alpro has had the single minded purpose to pioneer healthier eating and sustainable living. This gives the brand a lot of credibility and know-how. Its commitment to strive for continuous nutritional and sustainable optimisation is illustrated by the years-long effort of the brand to innovate, leading to a unique and large portfolio of plant-based products as part of a long term vision and strategy. As a significant step towards true sustainability, Alpro continues to lead as responsible brand on sustainable local sourcing, agriculture and production within the limits of planetary and health boundaries.
''The diets we have adopted are no longer sustainable for the planet, so we have to change the way we look at food production and consumption'', explains Sue Garfitt, General Manager at Alpro.
''Millions of people are more aware of the personal and environmental benefits of plant-based foods and drinks. Our brand has a mission to promote more flexitarian diets. We want to keep bringing more choice, variety and taste, and that's why innovation lies at the heart of what we do at Alpro.''
With its purpose to put plant-based foods first as a meaningful step to change the way the world eats for the better, Alpro contributes to the global 'Food Revolution' that Danone set in motion [1].
Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone, says ''I am very encouraged that policy-makers are beginning to recognize the importance and urgency of evolving the food system towards a more sustainable path, working with nature instead of against nature. We welcome strong international commitments like the European Farm2Fork strategy [2]. This initiative encourages consumers to adopt healthier and more sustainable eating habits, including more plant-based foods and drinks as part of the planetary diets scientific experts are calling for. It shows how the trend towards healthy and sustainable products is becoming unstoppable and the role food companies play in supporting flexitarian diets that are good for the planet and good for the health.''
Alpro products are sold in over 50 countries, leading the market in an increasingly competitive consumer category. The brand is determined to continue to play a pioneering role, and today announces again over 30 million EUR of investments in its production sites at Wevelgem (BE) and Kettering (UK), responding to the fast growing demand for plant-based products.
Ready for the future
From the strength and pride of its own origins and DNA, Alpro is a natural fit with Danone’s mission to pursue both social and economic value in all that the company does. Since 2018, Alpro has been certified as a B-Corp, joining a network of companies that combine social and ecological goals with financial success. Alpro now takes its ambition further, with a new health and sustainability pledge called “Feeding our Future with Plants”. With commitments centred around two topics, Health and Planet, Alpro’s ambition is to promote a measurable dietary shift towards more plant-based eating by 2025. Alpro’s commitments include:
Catalyst for net-zero operations with concrete climate ambitions for zero carbon, zero water, zero waste
Defining clear action plans for the transition to regenerative agriculture, focussing on biodiversity and water use in particular
Closing the loop on packaging, with 100% recyclable packs (today, Alpro is at 76%) and plant-based alternatives for yoghurt in a paper cup
Reducing water footprint per product by 60% (the biggest water treatment installation in Flanders will be installed at the Alpro factory in Wevelgem in Spring 2021)
Turning 50% of volumes into a recognised source of dietary fibre (today, Alpro is at 36%)
Bringing even more diversity into the portfolio, using at least 9 different plant-based ingredients (today, Alpro uses 7)
Applying transparent, easy-to-read Front Of Pack (FOP) nutrition labelling (such as Nutri-score with more than 90% green A and B scores for Alpro) to 100% of products
About Alpro:
Proud to be the pioneer of plant-based eating and drinking, Alpro has been creating delicious plant-based alternatives to milk, yogurt, cream, custard, desserts and ice cream for 40 years, made from either non-GM soya beans, coconuts, almonds, hazelnuts, rice or oats. Alpro, being part of Danone, has its head office in Ghent (Belgium) and three production facilities in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Alpro markets its products in Europe and beyond and contributes to further growth of plant-based food. Since 2018, Alpro is B Corp certified because of its efforts to combine social and environmental goals with financial success.
For more information: www.alpro.com – More on the Health & Sustainability Pledge: www.alpro.com/uk/good-for-the-planet
Contact:
Ann De Jaeger | VP General Counsel & Head of Corporate Affairs | +32 475 20 13 44 | ann.dejaeger@alpro.com
[1] “One Planet. One Health” reflects the vision of Danone that the health of people and planet are interconnected. It is a call to action for all to join the food revolution: a movement aimed at nurturing the adoption of healthier, more sustainable eating and drinking habits.
[2] The Farm to Fork Strategy is at the heart of the European Green Deal, that aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. It addresses the challenges of sustainable food systems and recognises the links between healthy people, healthy societies and a healthy planet.