Better together
Cisco and Ben & Jerry’s show how collaboration can fuel green initiatives and innovation in part four of our Green Leaders series
In part three of our series, we showed how Nike and Adidas utilise holistic thinking not only in their production methods but in their overall missions to build a sustainable brand.
The question of sustainability is also driving companies to see if a spirit of collaboration among brands may further enhance their green initiatives. In part four, we’ll discuss how corporate responsibility can be reinforced by outside expertise and guidance.
We’ll take a look at how two such companies, Cisco and Ben & Jerry’s, drive internal sustainability innovations by learning from their external partnerships.
Cisco empowers the next generation
A global leader in IT, networking, and cybersecurity solutions may not be the first company you expect to be driving green initiatives. But Cisco has leveraged its unique partnerships to be named one of the 100 Most Innovative Large Companies and most sustainable companies in the world – making it a thought and action leader in sustainable practices. And by partnering with more than 40 investment professionals worldwide, the company has made it a mission to empower the next generation of disruptive start-ups through its Cisco Investments to power global innovation.
Cisco is also a founding partner of the Copenhagen Solution Lab, a ground-breaking initiative to create a liveable and sustainable city through smart city digital solutions that can handle anything from parking to traffic to sensor-based water solutions. The partnership, first established in 2014, has put Copenhagen on track to become the world's first CO2 neutral capital by 2025. Additionally, it’s established Cisco as a leader in smart city solutions projected to be worth billions of euros in the coming years as more cities adopt similar controls.
Ben & Jerry’s collaborative flavours
The famed brand has long been known for its combination of unique and witty flavours and for its holistic thinking in sustainable practices. From its inception, founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield had little interest in growing their company without collaborating with like-minded businesses to lift the entire industry.
Many of their famous flavours, such as Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, were born from these partnerships. Their collaborations have also led a push for more sustainable farming practices centred around their products.
Take Caring Dairy, for example. Since their products are made mostly of milk and cream, Ben & Jerry’s created Caring Dairy to support the family farms that supply the milk and cream by devising a training program to help implement sustainable agricultural practices. The web-based course teaches farmers how to increase soil health for crops, better monitor and evaluate animal welfare, and maintain the health and safety of their farmworkers. To qualify, participants must attend the courses and show that they’ve implemented process improvements. In turn, Ben & Jerry’s compensates farmers based on how many improvements they’ve made.
Mix it up
The takeaway for food and beverage producers is that corporate social responsibility need not be limited to internal initiatives or solutions. Change can be enacted by looking within the supply chain, bettering and supporting the sustainable practices of those who create the materials. Similarly, partnering with outside companies can lead to revolutionary ideas in untraditional areas – we’re all waiting for the next Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Partnering with SIG
At SIG, we continually embrace new collaborations to support our sustainability efforts. For example, Our Way Beyond Good initiative guides us to embrace a range of collaborations across the globe. These partnerships support our overall goal of becoming a net positive company by putting more into the environment than we take out. We've even formed an independent responsibility advisory group made up of outside experts to guide these collaborations and our sustainability efforts.
To date, our partnerships have led to global initiatives like pioneering the use of responsibly sourced aluminium through the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI). And to commit to increasing the use of materials from responsibly managed forests through the Vancouver Declaration. On a more local scale, we've partnered with officials to incentivise recycling in cities in Brazil and encouraged SIG employees worldwide to partner with their neighbouring communities to help forests thrive by planting more trees.
Want to learn about how sustainability can drive change and innovation? In the fifth part of our series, we’ll continue our Green Leaders in business series with a look at how Microsoft and Siemens embrace culture and innovation.
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- January 19, 2021