Unilever to Check for deforestation in its supply chain

Hello all, my name is Vikas S Menon and I am a 2^nd year MBA student at Amrita school of business. Hope all are doing well. I hope you have read my previous blog. If you haven’t read, type #SCM in search, and you will find me.

 

So let’s begin,

 

An interview with Unilever’s chief supply chain officer Marc Engel told that tracking the first mile of a supply chain from field to processing plant is been difficult for larger companies. Recently, Unilever has come up with an idea of using geolocation data and satellite imaginary to find out the places where deforestation has occurred. With this technology, it will be helpful to understand the exact place from where the raw material is coming for any product. Unilever also stated that they are trying to achieve a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023. Unilever also published the details of suppliers, refinery and mills, and other manufacturing units were verified by a third party to have certified sustainable sourcing. It is possible to see from satellite images where deforestation has occurred, but it is more difficult to see if Unilever's suppliers have produced crops from these regions. The company is partnering with Orbital Insight, an analytics company to help it see a crop journey from the field to a processing plant, known as the first mile of the supply chain, that uses geolocation data from cell phone signals to track where raw materials are developed and transported. Unilever can alert the suppliers, not to source from farms where deforested areas. Orbital Insight has trained algorithms to differentiate between deforestation and areas where trees can be cut as part of a managed forest. Engel said that this technology is currently being used to track soya bean plantations in Brazil and palm oil production in Sumatra. The CEO and founder of Provenance, Jessi Baked stated that communicating information like carbon footprint or animal welfare or other product ingredient information to consumers will help the brand on a steady track. A transparency initiative with Princes group (food manufacturer that makes Italian brand Napolina) to provide QR codes on cans connecting the specifics of the procurement and the commodity path from the agricultural cooperative to the grocery shop. The main success is such a process is all about the correct framework with proof to be shared with customers to meet the standards of the brand which is still not met.

 

Is there any such technology adoption happened in other companies? Can transparency be good for the growth of a brand or protecting the trust in the brand by consumers? Let me know your opinion and looking forward to feedback.

 

Information collected sources:

 

1)  https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/24/unilever-in-data-pilot-to-check-for-deforestation-in-its-supply-chain.html