Travel Retail Sustainability Week

Ferrero Group has signed as a Headline Sponsor for this year’s Travel Retail Sustainability Week

The duty free and travel retail industry’s only event entirely dedicated to sustainability, CSR and ESG took place virtually from 2-6 December online at TRBusiness.com.

Educational-led webinars on two dedicated days accompanied a compendium of rich digital content available throughout the week. This year’s edition included the return of the hugely popular ‘Sustainability Pitch’ program, which pitching companies a unique platform to put their eco-conscious products, brands and initiatives to the scrutiny of an esteemed panel of ‘Sustainability Guardians’.
In pledging its support to Travel Retail Sustainability Week, Italy-headquartered confectionery group Ferrero joins Suntory Global Spirits as a fellow Headline Sponsor, with Anora, Rémy Cointreau and Kellanova GTR inked as Silver Sponsors.

Sergio Salvagno, General Manager, Ferrero Travel Market, commented: “We are proud to support events like the Sustainability Week, because they offer to the various stakeholders of travel retail the possibility to meet with other partners, share best sustainable practices and ensure collaboration towards a more sustainable and responsible future, benefiting the environment, businesses, and consumers alike.
“We look forward to sharing our latest efforts and ideas with partners and travel retail colleagues at the event. We have high expectations for this year’s edition, hoping this event will raise awareness about the importance of sustainability for the travel retail sector, educating attendees on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in sustainable practices; showcase innovations in sustainable practices; facilitate networking among industry leaders and experts because this can lead to valuable collaborations and partnerships; share practical solutions that attendees can implement in their own businesses; and keep participants updated on the latest regulations and standards related to sustainability and CSR.”

The family-owned business’s progress in sustainability is rooted in its four core sustainability pillars: protecting the environment, sourcing ingredients sustainably, promoting responsible consumption and empowering people.
Packaging remains a clear priority, according to the Ferrero Sustainability Report 2023, as the company extends its strategic focus beyond 2025. Currently, more than 90% of its packaging is designed to be recyclable, reusable or compostable and the company is maintaining this commitment for the coming years, inclusive of newly acquired businesses.
The report noted: “We will continue to face many challenges beyond 2025. New packaging legislation will come into force in most countries (packaging and packaging waste regulation in Europe, for example). We are monitoring these closely, to ensure business continuity.”

Ferrero, a finalist in two categories in the consumer-voted Global Travel Retail Awards 2024, tells TRBusiness that existing brand lines are today crafted more sustainably, with current (and soon-to-arrive) examples including the Ferrero Rocher Iconic Gift tin, which can be upcycled in different ways, giving it a new lease of life.
This accompanies the likes of gifting boxes from Rocher T30 and T16 that are now fashioned using polypropylene. “To ensure that sustainability is something which engages shoppers, we are creating the tins and packaging for the Kinder Mix Koala and Kinder Chocolate Pencil Case to be reused and loved after use to reduce waste,” continued Salvagno. “All our novelties are now designed to be recycled or reusable, in line with the strategy of the Ferrero Group, which seeks to have more than 90% of our packaging designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable.”

Alongside packaging, another priority project for 2025 in global travel retail is more circular point-of-sale materials. “Two years ago we launched an overhaul of our point-of-sale materials, revamping the design and engineering process to reduce the impact on the environment,” added Salvagno. “The result is our new gondola, which has been created with a sustainable lifecycle in mind: it is crafted using as few materials as possible, thanks to a series of trials which helped us to cut both energy usage and the quantity of materials. Today, more than 40 of these gondolas have been launched in travel retail and we have started to make an impact.”