Kellanova sees immense potential for savoury category in GTR

TRBusiness talks to Jeanne Reijnders, Key Account Manager Global Travel Retail Duty Free, Kellanova, about their data-led approach to capturing consumer interest, as well as how they’re looking to innovate in terms of the sustainable and health credentials of its core Pringles range.

“The savoury category is a fast-growing category. With Pringles, we started two years ago and there was a small category without high demand not captured by global brand. Nowadays after H1 2024 it already captures 44% of the wallet share in the food category,” said Reijnders, noting the future of the trend will be decided – at least for Kellanova – by the strength of its in-store experiences.

“In travel retail it’s so important to capture gifting, for which we have a specified portfolio, and for the future it’s important for us to further develop the gifting range,” continued Reijnders, who noted the brand has leaned on m1nd-set data to tailor upcoming products for GTR.

Reijnders also touched upon the ways in which Kellanova is seeking to improve its products for health and eco-conscious consumers: “This year we introduced a fully recyclable paper can in duty free and people noticed the difference,” said Reijnders, who added: ” Besides that we’re working on downsizing salt in products, though flavour remains number one, and we also have a dedicated non-HFFS range.”

Watch below to learn more about how Kellanova is positioning itself within the travel retail channel…

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WATCH MORE: TRBusiness Shorts: Proximo

Fielden championing ‘revolutionary whisky making from field to glass’

Sustainability is a big focus for Fielden Whisky, TRBusiness has learned, which champions a restorative approach to its farming methods to produce liquid made from heritage grains.

Speaking to TRBusiness as part of a special run of ‘Sustainability Shorts’ produced in partnership with The Bluedog Group, Tim Young, Founder of Young Spirit Consulting and collaborator with GMAX Travel Retail which represents Fielden Whisky in travel retail, says sustainability remains a big focus for the self-styled ‘whisky of England’.

“This is revolutionary whisky from revolutionary farming; you could describe it as the best of English fields in a glass,” explained Young.

Click below to discover more…

Priding itself on the regenerative aspects of farming, Fielden draws on a mix of heritage grains grown in clover in a departure from industrially produced, chemically reliant grains that conform to the same crop, height and flavour profile supplied to whisky distilleries.

The idea is the clover-based heritage grain, a variety of rye, wheat and barley and possessing its own characteristics and flavours, acts to restore and nurture the soil, boosting the biodiversity and food supply of England’s fields.

In this way, Fielden says its approach makes for a more sustainable way of farming ‘to bring England’s fields back to life’, one that is better for the soil, wildlife and the grain itself, resulting in a whisky brimming with flavour.

“Farming is responsible for between 25-30% of spirits’ carbon footprint,” added Young. “There is a lot of progress being made by brands within distilling to conserve and recycle water and energy. Fielden are going one step further to reduce the carbon footprint of the grain used to make its whisky.”

The liquid rests in new American Oak, refilled rye cask and repurposed casks that once held wines such as Sauternes and Moscatel.

To watch more ‘Sustainability Shorts’, visit the below links.

The Sustainability Interview: Laurence Pardieu-Duthil, L’Oréal Travel Retail

Laurence Pardieu-Duthil, Chief Sustainability Officer, Global Travel Retail, L’Oreal.

As the driving force behind L’Oréal’s sustainability efforts in global travel retail, Laurence Pardieu-Duthil – alongside her team – shoulder an important yet heavy responsibility as the vanguard of circular and progressive change within the beauty giant’s highly valuable ‘6^th continent’.

Positioned as an integral part of the new-look L’Oréal Travel Retail team helmed by President Emmanuel Goulin, Pardieu-Duthil brings a wealth of experience to the travel retail division from her previous role as Chief Sustainability Officer for L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty Division. She has also served as Chief Sustainability Officer for L’Oréal Germany/Austria in a career spanning more than 30 years with the beauty giant and its brand divisions.

Pardieu-Duthil took the time to speak to TRBusiness recently on camera, sharing her thoughts on the progress made by L’Oréal Travel Retail since she took up the reins as Chief Sustainability Officer around nine months ago – click the play button below to watch the full video.

The company boldly proclaims its commitment to ‘making beauty sustainable and sustainability beautiful’ and this is intended to play through with more vigour within the B2C segment, TRBusiness hears.

“Our focus will be a bit more on consumer-facing initiatives; the product assortment and eco-design POS,” said Pardieu-Duthil.

The future is refillable

As reported, the store architecture for L’Oréal’s recently announced debut unit for skincare, haircare and bodycare brand Aesop in Hainan will take inspiration from local materials.

Meanwhile, Pardieu-Duthil identifies packaging as one area where changes can resonate suitably with consumers.

“It is really about reducing, recycling and reusing. We can be proud that in 2023, already a third of plastic packaging came from either recycled or bio-based sources. We are also pushing the recyclability of our products.

“We now have 43% of products that are either recyclable, reusable or compostable. More concretely, the big change that is happening is refillable beauty. All the innovations are coming with refills because it is the most impactful way to reduce the carbon footprint.

“We can reuse on average the use of materials by 40% by using a refill, so it’s really impactful and brings a dimension of value, which consumers are looking for – not just for sustainability but value for money and the combination of the two is really the best case we can offer in terms of sustainability.”

In a wide-ranging exchange, Pardieu-Duthil addresses (among other topics) the consumer barriers to purchasing more sustainable beauty products across travel retail and why the trend towards mini refillables is coaxing wallet spending.

Skincare, haircare and bodycare brand and Certified B-Corp Aesop is making a big play in travel retail under L’Oreal.

Q&A with Laurence Pardieu-Duthil, Chief Sustainability Officer, Global Travel Retail, L’Oreal

TRBusiness: At a Group level, L’Oréal prioritises ‘Planet, People and Products’ and has set itself a broad series of measurable targets. On fighting climate change, the 2030 target is to reduce the direct emissions (Scope 1 + 2) of strategic suppliers by 50% in absolute terms (versus 2016). How is the travel retail division contributing towards reaching this target?

Laurence Pardieu-Duthil: In travel retail, our ambition is to be at the forefront of sustainable retail and we contribute towards L’Oréal Group’s 2030 climate change targets by focusing on three main levers of decarbonation linked to our specific activity and impact. First, sustainable consumption with a strong focus on circularity by expanding refill products. Second, sustainable point of sale by embarking our POS suppliers on material decarbonation. And third, Sustainable Operations, by driving transportation modal switch from air freight to sea and rail.

Concretely, we have defined three pillars for our travel retail sustainability roadmap: Be exemplary in our operational model (supply, sourcing and POS material), become a key channel for at-home refills, leading a critical consumer behaviour change for the industry, which has a great fit with our channel. Thirdly, lead travel retail sustainability advocacy, hand in hand with brands, retailers and airports.

As we know, climate resilience and defence relies not only on tackling Scope 1 + 2 emissions, but Scope 3. What practical actions is L’Oréal’s travel retail business taking to address these indirect emissions in the upstream through the supply chain and the use of products and services lifecycle in the downstream?

Scope 3 is indeed our priority as we are already very advanced on scope 1 & 2: In 2023 CO2 emissions from our operated sites have decreased by 74% compared to 2019, while production has increased by 12% compared to 2019. On Scope 3 we are working on both upstream and downstream impacts: Upstream we are working closely with our TR suppliers for point-of-sale materials, empowering them to measure the carbon impact and the life cycle analysis of the elements they sell to us thanks to the Eco-Design Cloud. Downstream, we are working with TR retailers on product circularity to facilitate the reuse of our products by allowing them to refill them with ‘at-home refills’.

One of the Group’s targets is 100% of plastic packaging to be refillable, reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Are you on track to reach this target, and broadly speaking what strategy is travel retail pursuing to improve the environmental profile of your products in travel retail, specifically through packaging?

In 2023, already 32% of our plastic packaging came from recycled or bio-based materials and 44% of our plastic packaging was either reusable, refillable, recyclable or compostable.  This improvement corresponds to an acceleration of refillable formats and the removal of recyclability disruptors. For example, L’Oréal Paris removed the metal spring from the pump used for its Acid Bond shampoo in Asia.

Laurence Pardieu-Duthil, Chief Sustainability Officer, Global Travel Retail, L’Oreal (top right) featured as a panellist during TR Sustainability Week. The ‘Two sides of the same coin? Dispelling greenwashing/greenhushing’ aired on Monday 2 December and confronted the efficacy of green claims through an operational, communicative and regulatory lens.

And another important lever to reduce the impact of packaging is to reduce its intensity, and beyond packaging lightweighting; refills are one the most effective levers to decrease packaging intensity.  As you noticed, we’ve been an early mover but now we can have a big impact as more than one third of our assortment at TR will be refillable next year including all our best sellers. So, we have put this change as the N1 sustainability priority for L’Oréal Travel Retail affiliates.

Attitudes and behaviours towards eco-conscious shopping vary by region and demographics. Which territory or nationality group in travel retail are you seeing the strongest demand for sustainable consumption of eco-conscious products? We know Europe for example has been historically more mature versus Asia…

Actually we see the strongest demand for sustainable consumption in both markets Europe and North Asia versus the rest of the world. For instance, refills already represent in some of these markets over 10% of refillable product sales and they are growing double digit growth worldwide at the moment. in travel Retail, we believe we can become a destination channel for refill as value remains the number one reason to buy and refill is a great way to consolidate channel price competitiveness.It also matches perfectly our regional, category and consumer footprint. Consumer research conducted by Lancôme Travel Retail this summer reveals that 90% of travellers said that brand with refills were ‘caring and considerate’ that ‘reflected social responsibility’ and bring better ‘value for money’. So, refills are a real priority for us.

Are there particular channels i.e. airports, cruise ships, airlines where you are witnessing a stronger push for more sustainable product innovation from your retailer partners?

More than channels, I would say the push for more sustainable product innovation comes from specific geographies and airports, especially from Europe and North Asia. More than half of airports are now engaged in a decarbonation process as the ACI 2023 airport carbon accreditation report shows.

In turn, are you finding your retail partners are doing enough to encourage investment in advertising and marketing fixtures and displays for sustainable products and services? (i.e. Eco Aelia in Geneva).

I can testify that our leading retail partners are now really accelerating on giving focus to sustainable products and services and we are partnering with them on the acceleration of refillable products with big ambitions for next year.

With the explosion of beauty tech within global travel retail, what role can this area play – particularly AI and machine learning – in better educating customers and travellers on L’Oréal’s sustainability goals?

Indeed, beauty tech holds strong potential to amplify L’Oréal’s sustainability communication within the dynamic global travel retail environment. As you said, AI and machine learning can personalise the traveller’s journey, transforming how we educate and engage with them on our sustainability commitments. The big opportunity ahead of us is the creation of the Eco Beauty Score, which is an environmental impact scoring system for cosmetic products (labelled A to E) organised by a consortium of over 70 beauty players in the world to enable consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions. Thanks to tech, we will be able to leverage the Eco Beauty Score on all relevant digital consumer touch points.  

Flagship Group brand Lancôme opened the Domaine de la Rose by Lancôme store at China Duty Free Group’s Block C in Haitang Bay over the summer and Aesop is planning its first POS in Hainan. Be it through the scientific process or retail architecture, the push in Asia Pacific to reflect L’Oréal Group’s brands’ heritage and commitment to sustainability seems to be greater than ever before…

Indeed, sustainability is becoming fully part of the brand equity and sense of purpose and, beyond the eco-design of the products, each of our big brands now also support a strong brand cause, like ‘Stand Up against Street Harassment’ for L’Oréal Paris or ‘Abuse is not Love’ against domestic violence for Yves Saint Laurent.

L’Oréal recently joined Diageo, Gebr. Heinemann and Tony’s Chocolonely to create an action forum on sustainable practices in travel retail to share learnings, collaborate and test and trial. Why is it important for L’Oréal to be part of this group, and what do you hope to achieve through this brand-retailer alliance?

It is always very interesting to join forces, we meet quarterly to discuss on several topics such as: sustainable supply, product eco design, airport practices, etc. We want to focus on sustainability practices in the travel retail space, initially focusing in on three areas for sharing learnings, collaboration and test and trial: carbon reduction in supply, sustainable product and retail innovation, sustainability consumer content & communication

Finaly, what do you see as the number one challenge and opportunity facing L’Oréal’s travel retail sustainability progress into 2025?

I think our number one sustainability priority in travel retail is both a challenge and an opportunity: it is to really accelerate product circularity by leveraging the full potential of product at-home refills, answering specifically the strong traveller’s expectations on sustainability, innovation, experience and value.

Laurence Pardieu-Duthil, Chief Sustainability Officer, Global Travel Retail, L’Oreal featured as a panellist in the TR Sustainability Week panel session ‘Two sides of the same coin? Dispelling greenwashing/greenhushing’, which took place on Monday 2 December.

To view a repeat of the session, click here for on-demand access.

For more on TR Sustainability Week, click here.

ICAO, ACI & IATA align on priorities for improving air travel accessibility

International aviation community aligns on air travel accessibility priorities

The Joint ICAO/ACI/IATA Symposium on Accessibility in International Civil Aviation took place on 2-3 December, 2024, in Montréal.

Aviation stakeholders and disability advocates established key priorities for improving global air travel accessibility at a landmark joint symposium held earlier this week by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Airports Council International (ACI), and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The two-day event took place on 2 and 3 December at the ICAO Headquarters in Montréal, drawing to a timely conclusion on International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

That same day (Tuesday 3 December), TRBusiness hosted a live webinar titled ‘Breaking down the barriers to travel and shopping’ as part of TR Sustainability Week 2024, which highlighted how airports can help ensure a welcome environment for disabled passengers, those with health conditions and non-disabled passengers alike. Click here to view.

The ICAO, ACI and IATA joint symposium attracted 237 participants from governments, industry and civil society organisations.

It provided ‘critical input’ for ICAO’s upcoming strategy and work programme on aviation accessibility, with ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano noting that: “The diversity of voices gathered here today – from decision-makers and technical experts to advocacy groups and international organisations – creates opportunities for meaningful change. Your collective expertise will help us to identify barriers and build effective solutions.”

Juan Carlos Salazar, ICAO’s Secretary General commented: “The insights garnered from this symposium will prove invaluable in ensuring our work addresses all needs and exceeds expectations.

“The authentic voices of persons with disabilities have enriched our understanding and strengthened our resolve to effect meaningful change.”

The timings and scope of the symposium reflects the growing need to address aviation accessibility. According to World Health Organization statistics, more than 1.3 billion individuals – that’s approximately 16% of the global population – live with some form of disability, and this percentage is expected to increase as the world’s population ages.

“While current regulations address accessibility within individual jurisdictions, achieving significant progress requires a cohesive framework on an international scale,” said Justin Erbacci, ACI World’s Director General.

“In this regard, ACI acknowledges ICAO’s pivotal role in uniting stakeholders to develop such frameworks.

“The discussions that took place at the symposium will help pave the way to building a more inclusive and accessible air transport system. Our collective commitment to accessibility has never been stronger.”

The symposium served to deliver important and substantial input for ICAO’s development of a comprehensive accessibility strategy and work programme, with crucial insights for policy development pinpointed thanks to the personal experiences shared by passengers with disabilities.

“Airlines, airports, and regulators all want to provide safe, reliable, and dignified travel to every passenger,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

“But it is no secret that accessibility poses challenges for a significant number of our passengers who have disabilities.

“The symposium cemented consensus to build a global accessibility strategy for states to consider at next year’s ICAO Assembly. Linking disparate approaches into a practical global outcome that will deliver for travellers without disappointment is the goal. That States have included this among ICAO’s priorities is already a good start.”

The outcomes of the symposium will be relayed to delegates at the 42nd ICAO Assembly in 2025, with the outcomes set to help guide the development of harmonised global frameworks for accessible air transport.

RESULTS: The 2024 Sustainability Pitch sessions

Sustainability Pitch 2024

Four leading duty free and travel retail stakeholders have this year put their pitches to our panel of green guardians with a view to securing TR Sustainability Trailblazer or TR Sustainability Hero status in the acclaimed Sustainability Pitch programme.

Their video pitches, including the evaluations, have been rolling out this week at TRBusiness.com. Now, we are bringing you a handy roundup of the results.

The Sustainability Pitch is a flagship component of Travel Retail (TR) Sustainability Week, providing a platform for companies to put their eco-friendly products, services and initiatives under the scrutiny of an experienced lineup of industry stakeholders.

This year’s Sustainability Guardians are: Julie Lassaigne, Secretary General, European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC); Ian Upton, Head of Category Operations, Fulfilment (inc HCC), Services, Sustainability, Heathrow Airport; and Graeme Stewart, CEO, Enviro-Point.

Sustainability Guardians 2024 (left to right): Graeme Stewart, CEO, Enviro-Point; Julie Lassaigne, Secretary General, ETRC; and Ian Upton, Head of Category Operations, Fulfilment (inc HCC), Services, Sustainability, Heathrow Airport.

The 2024 pitch submissions covered a broad spectrum of areas, from efforts to protect the environment such as biodiversity preservation, ingredients traceability, decarbonising supply chains and reducing, reusing and recycling packaging materials, to personnel development, promoting DE&I and social responsibility. Thank you to all those who participated.

Suntory Global Spirits

For its pitch, the premium spirits company spotlighted its Peatland Water Sanctuary, which concentrates on the restoration and preservation of wetlands and peatlands as part of a multi-stakeholder collaboration involving the likes of the Scotch Whisky Association, Forestry and Land Scotland, and the RSPB.

The Peatland Water Sanctuary initiative plays into Suntory Global Spirits’ ‘Proof Positive’ strategy, which accelerates environmental and social change across several pillars: Nature Positive, Consumer Positive and Community Positive.

VIEW NOW: The Sustainability Pitch Session 1: Suntory Global Spirits

TRBusiness is delighted to reveal that Suntory Global Spirits has been awarded five-star TR Sustainability Hero status.

Sustainability Pitch 2024

Kellanova GTR – Pringles

The sustainability journey of Pringles took a turn in the spotlight in the Kellanova GTR pitch, in view of several recent brand developments, such as the launch of Pringles’ newly redesigned and recyclable paper tube.

Pitch viewers are also gained a deeper dive into Kellanova’s work on social responsibility, espoused by the ‘Better Days’ initiative across four core pillars: Fighting hunger, sustainability, wellbeing and EDI.

VIEW NOW: The Sustainability Pitch Session 2: Kellanova GTR

TRBusiness is delighted to reveal that Kellanova GTR has been awarded four-star TR Sustainability Trailblazer status.

Sustainability Pitch 2024

Ferrero

In this pitch, Ferrero zooms in on its responsible sourcing, environmental protection, responsible consumption and the empowerment of consumers to make informed choices, which forms the backbone of all its sustainability initiatives.

It carries commentary from several representatives, including Mario Abreu, Head of CSR and Sustainability at Ferrero, who opens the session pitch by explaining how the company views sustainability as a long-term journey of commitment and dedication, establishing best practice for nature protection and social justice.

VIEW NOW: The Sustainability Pitch Session 3: Ferrero

TRBusiness is delighted to reveal that Ferrero has been awarded four-star TR Sustainability Hero status.

Sustainability Pitch 2024

Rémy Cointreau

In this pitch, the French spirits group, famed for its cognac production, demonstrates its efforts to promote sustainable viticulture in the face of climate change, which threatens its wine growing terroirs.

The company also talks about its comprehensive CSR approach, which puts people at the heart of the business, encourages ethical and responsible consumption and communication, eco-design product actions and reducing the environmental footprint associated with its activities.

VIEW NOW: The Sustainability Pitch Session 4: Rémy Cointreau

TRBusiness is delighted to reveal that Rémy Cointreau has been awarded five-star TR Sustainability Hero status.

Sustainability Pitch 2024

The Sustainability Pitch broadcasts have been brought to you with production assistance courtesy of The Bluedog Group.

To learn more more on the methodology behind the Sustainability Pitch, click the button below for a video explainer.

Watch the live conference sessions on-demand. All the live conference sessions, which were broadcast on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 December, are now available to watch on-demand here.

View our sustainability content. Check out the dedicated section on our website to view more TR Sustainability Week content.

Read the TR Sustainability Week programme here – it contains everything you need to know, including details of this week’s speakers and our event partners.

To find out more, about TR Sustainability Week please visit: www.travelretailsustainabilityweek.com

Thank you to our event partners

Suntory on Scope 3, water conservation and supporting mental fitness

Alasdair Dickinson, General Manager Emerging Markets, Global Travel Retail, Suntory Global Spirits.

PARTNER CONTENT: TRBusiness met with Alasdair Dickinson, General Manager Emerging Markets, Global Travel Retail, Suntory Global Spirits, at the 2024 MEADFA Conference in Abu Dhabi for an update on the projects making an impact as part of the company’s Proof Positive initiative.

The enterprise-wide strategy is designed to help drive sustainable change and have a positive, lasting impact on society. As Dickinson explained, it permeates the business in a variety of ways.

“Since 2019 we have reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by -20%,” he said, while also highlighting that a big priority moving forward is Scope 3, with a dedicated workforce assembled to focus specifically on this.

“That is going to be a big project for us running up to 2030.”

Suntory Global Spirits is already making good progress on this, by “leaning into” projects including an update to freight between the Netherlands and Germany utilising hydrotreated vegetable oil, which has reduced emissions by 90%.

In this exclusive video interview, Dickinson talks about this and more initiatives that are making a difference, such as the comapany’s work around water conservation. As Dickinson relayed, this is an “incredibly important” and fundamental element to the organisation – you can find out more about this in Suntory Global Spirits’ Sustainability Pitch session.

Another important pillar is DEI, with powerful employee-led employee impact groups championing everything from mental fitness to generational awareness.

Having experienced anxiety and depression, Dickinson is an ardent advocate for mental health. This includes heading up the company’s mental fitness group, which trains mental first aiders across some of the company’s key offices and also has facilitated the training of 30 leaders on ‘people fuel’ (which is all about managing energy levels).

Dickinson praised the good work the wider duty free and travel retail community is doing in the sustainability realm, and offered suggestions for collaborating more closely for the greater good.

“The biggest challenge I would throw out to the travel retail community would be: Are we sharing that enough? Are we taking leanings from each other?” he said.

“When I think of sustainability, there doesn’t have to be any degree of competition in it. It’s just something that everybody has to move towards and is one thing that the whole industry can actually get behind.

“From an industry perspective, I think we should talk a lot more. I’d love to understand if there is a sustainability task force we can bring together from an industry level that would really get us all moving in the right direction.”

In the spirit of this, Dickinson, together with Global Travel Retail Managing Director Ashish Gandham, are encouraging the Suntory Global Spirits team and its partners to create joint business plans with a sustainability element baked in, to foster accountability.

Hit play to learn more about all of this and the four key focus areas moving forward…

Watch TR Sustainability Week live conference sessions on-demand. All the live conference sessions, which were broadcast on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 December, are now available to watch on-demand here.

View our sustainability content. Check out the dedicated section on our website to view more TR Sustainability Week content.

Read the TR Sustainability Week programme here – it contains everything you need to know, including details of the 2024 edition speakers and event partners.

To find out more about TR Sustainability Week please visit: www.travelretailsustainabilityweek.com

Thank you to our event partners

The Sustainability Pitch Session 4: Rémy Cointreau

TRBusiness can today (5 December) announce the results of the fourth and final Sustainability Pitch session of TR Sustainability Week 2024 (2-6 December).

Rémy Cointreau, the French spirits group famed for its cognac production, sets the scene with a video pitch submission that majors on efforts to promote sustainable viticulture in the face of climate change, which threatens its wine growing terroirs.

This is being achieved by supporting its farming communities through the deployment of agricultural practices to boost soil resilience and regenerate biodiverse environments, while promoting agro-ecology.

The family owned company’s pitch stresses a CSR approach that puts people at the heart of the business, encourages ethical and responsible consumption and communication, eco-design product actions and reducing the environmental footprint associated with its activities.

‘Together, we are part of the solution – this is what the sustainable exception is all about’, the video submission concludes.

PITCH 4: WATCH BELOW

Please watch the pitch below to discover whether Rémy Cointreau achieved the four-star TR Sustainability Trailblazer status or the five-star TR Sustainability Hero accolade.

In a Q&A with the Sustainability Guardians, Mélanie Bulourde, Director of Operations and Group Social & Environmental Responsibility, Rémy Cointreau offers a direct response to three questions that drill down into the Group’s self-publicised figures around its sustainability ambitions.

This includes 87% of the company’s strategic suppliers being ‘committed to a proactive CSR approach’ and 66% of products benefitting from an eco-design action.

TRBusiness would like to thank the Sustainability Guardians for lending their expertise to this year’s Sustainability Pitch programme.

Established in 2021, the Sustainability Pitch initiative is designed to recognise and reward sustainable products and initiatives associated with the travel industry and affords companies a unique opportunity to demonstrate innovation across a number of environmental and social barometers.

Those Pitch entrants that meet the benchmarked standard will receive a coveted seal of approval that they can feature on their B2B and B2C marketing and material to communicate their achievements to end-consumers and businesses alike.

Critically, the sustainability Trailblazer and Hero logos are designed to make it easier for consumers to navigate and make sustainable choices in duty free stores.

This Sustainability Pitch broadcast is brought to you with production assistance courtesy of The Bluedog Group.

For more on the methodology behind the Sustainability Pitch, click the button below for a video explainer.

For the full event agenda, click here.

View our sustainability content: Stay close to the dedicated section on our website to view TR Sustainability Week content, including this edition’s Sustainability Pitch broadcasts.

To read the dedicated event programme, click here.

For more on the Sustainability Pitch programme, click the below links

To find out more about TR Sustainability Week 2024 please visit www.TRBusiness.com, www.travelretailsustainabilityweek.com and click below links to access exclusive sustainability-related content.

VIDEO Interview: Camillo Rossotto, Avolta, Pt 1

Camillo Rossotto, Chief Public Affairs & ESG Officer, Avolta spoke to TRBusiness in a trade exclusive video interview.

Supply chain governance as it concerns the sustainable sourcing and traceability of brands is occupying an increasingly prominent role within the scope of Avolta’s corporate strategy, its Chief Public Affairs & ESG Officer Camillo Rossotto has told TRBusiness.

The Member of Avolta’s Global Executive Committee and former Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Autogrill spoke to this publication recently in a travel retail exclusive video interview.

Scroll below to watch the full part 1 exchange, airing as part of the fourth iteration of TR Sustainability Week (2-6 December).

TR Sustainability Week is the DF&TR industry’s only virtual event dedicated to sustainability, ESG and CSR – click here to access a raft of on-demand video content including dedicated panel discussions, Sustainability Pitch sessions and Sustainability Shorts video interviews. To find out more, visit www.travelretailsustainabilityweek.com and consult the dedicated TR Sustainability Week e-zine by clicking here.

The global travel experience player has devised the ‘Double Materiality Matrix’, aligned closely to its Destination 2027 strategy.

The Double Materiality Index grades 13 key material matters, as Avolta describes, grouped into four focus areas that define its ESG strategy: ‘Create Sustainable Travel Experiences’, ‘Respect Our Planet’, ‘Empower Our People’ and ‘Engage Local Communities’.

Of the 13 key material matters, four of these are characterised as the most consequential: ‘Diversity, equity & inclusion’; ‘Climate change, energy and emissions’; ‘Sustainable sourcing & traceability’; and ‘Supply chain management’.

These reflect the main challenges of the industry in which the company operates and where it has the opportunity to stand out, it believes.

Aligning retail ethics with brand values

With the landscape in DF&TR characterised by an increasing divergence of views and approaches when it comes to sustainability, TRBusiness asked Rossotto whether regulating the supply chain responsibly to ensure ethical alignment between Avolta and its brand partners represented the most difficult challenge for the retailer.

He responded by admitting his surprise that supply chain management and product traceability had indeed featured in the ‘Top Materiality’ portion of the matrix, which analyses the impact materiality (inside-out) that the company generates on the economy, environment and people; and financial materiality (outside-in) that identifies risks and opportunities that could positively or negatively disrupt its development.

The Double Materiality Index is informed by an analysis to identify relevant matters in light of Avolta’s business activities and expectations as it concerns its main stakeholders (investors, concession partners, customers, peers, brand partners and employees).

“Seeing that this part is so prominent – not in Autogrill, for example, where we had more social variables in the upper right quadrant – it really speaks to the DNA of what a retailer does. It chooses brand ‘A’ versus brand ‘B’ and adds to the conversation today [by asking] how much they are doing. We are really engaging with our suppliers.”

Rossotto says that aside the importance of brand storytelling, economics and assortment, often used as barometers to gauge success for retailers, Avolta is sharpening its concentration on brands’ ethics – for example, their subscription to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

“Those types of variables and KPIs that were unknown to us have made it into the topline, which means we are really changing the culture of the people that work inside our company. Today, our global scope and local presence allows us to be significant in this dialogue.”

Aligning the interests of the business with sustainability relies on sharing operational data along the value chain with airports, airlines and brands, insists Rossotto. Pictured is the Double Materiality Matrix, which Avolta uses to benchmark its progress on ESG. Source: Avolta ESG Report 2023.

While flagging the increased scrutiny Avolta is placing on its supply chain operability as it concerns the high standards it sets for its brand partners to espouse the values of Avolta, Rossotto is nonetheless skeptical on the notion of imposing or prescribing specific conditions attached to marketing ESG.

It’s been a period of rapid evolution for Avolta, the brand identify representing the Dufry-Autogrill business combination whose shares began trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange a little over 12 months ago.

During the course of an extended two-part exchange that took place during the recent TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes, Rossotto takes the opportunity to reflect on the scale of Avolta’s transformation since the juggernaut entity was unveiled at last year’s global travel retail summit in Cannes.

Camillo Rossotto, Chief Public Affairs & ESG Officer, Avolta: “I view my role as Chief ESG Officer like Alka-Seltzer; I want to diffuse myself into the water and let the organisation drink out of it. It is not about creating an ESG function, it is about creating a culture.”

A sense of great accountability

He describes the evolution of the business combination as a “chemical process”, with Dufry and Autogrill possessing different yet complementary characteristics that together are more than the sum of the two parts alone.

“That has been inspiring for public affairs and ESG, but also inspiring for me at a personal level,” he explained. “I moved from being the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer of Autogrill to Chief of ESG and Public Affairs of the combined group.”

Tasked with shaping and defining Avolta’s CSR and public affairs function, Rossotto’s importance cannot be overstated in a new era for the combined entity that will equally attract increased scrutiny from consumers.

He describes with candour a feeling of “big responsibility” in his duty to equally assess the constituent parts of the business entity – from F&B to travel retail – and communicate its sustainable developments in a way that speaks to the DNA of the combination.

That very DNA speaks to Avolta’s broad-reaching Destination 2027 strategy, with sustainability described as ‘an inherent element’ within this.

On environmental actions, Rossotto says Avolta’s airport partners are actively engaged in sector-wide efforts to de-carbonise aviation, though he acknowledges the oft-perception of the industry as a major contributor to pollution as being greater than the reality [it is broadly acknowledged that global aviation accounts for approximately 2-3% of global carbon emissions given air travel trips are disproportionate to population sizes, despite the increasing demand for travel – Ed].

The aviation industry’s 2050 net zero carbon emissions target involves a multi-collaborative effort. As such, Rossotto says Avolta’s business development teams are involved in the design phases of project and operation management designed to home in on specific actions, such as tackling waste and working in close partnership with local communities, a vital source of recruitment for Avolta.

“We believe in diversity – it is the precondition to be impacting with your customers,” he continued. “They are diverse by definition […]. The only way you can be emphatic and provide them with great service is if your people share the same values across the organisation.”

Addressing the focus area ‘Create Sustainable Travel Experiences’, Rossotto says the approach punctuates the relationship it has with its brands partners and fostering responsibility across the supply chain through the stewardship of the ingredients it sources as a food retailer, from field to plate.

Avolta says ESG is an inherent part of its Destination 2027 strategy and contributes to the delivery of its financial and non-financial goals. In 2023, the ESG strategy was enhanced to full scope resulting from the completed business combination between Dufry and Autogrill, tying in their former individual ESG strategies. Source: Avolta ESG Report 2023. Click to enlarge.

“We think sustainability means different things to different people across the world, so you cannot be ‘one size fits all’,” he insisted.

“Sometimes you can connect the dots that go above and beyond sustainability per-se and get a good result in ESG. I view my role as Chief ESG Officer like Alka-Seltzer; I want to diffuse myself into the water and let the organisation drink from it. It’s not about creating an ESG function, but a culture that permeates the way we operate, face our customers and deal with our people.”

More detail on the material topics and related impacts, risks and opportunities within the Double Materiality Index are contained within Avolta’s ESG Report Annex 2023.

Avolta operates in excess of 5,100 duty free, F&B and convenience points of sale at more than 1,000 locations in 73 countries.

Stay close to TRBusiness for the part 2 Video Interview with Camillo Rossotto, Chief Public Affairs & ESG Officer, Avolta.

‘Going organic is a way of life’ for Rémy Telmont organic champagne

Justin Meade, Global Marketing & business Development Director, Remy Telmont, details to TRBusiness how Rémy Cointreau’s latest venture into organic champagne is prioritising sustainable agriculture in every facet of its production, and its plans to target global travel retailers with a sustainability-centric agenda.

With plans already well under way to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90% enacting ‘common sense decisions’ such as removing the use of: excess packaging, limited editions, heavy, bespoke or transparent bottles, and Rémy Telmont said it is on a mission to grow volume – and grow awareness of – organic champagne within global travel retail.

“I think there’s a clientele out there looking for organic champagne, and also brands which have values and a mission-charged agenda, that’s who we are at Belmont,” said Meade, adding: “Provenance is key because it’s a also a lesson in humility, the difficulties and challenges you have in growing grapes will be true in one area and not the next, yo uahve to adapt to your specific terroir.”

Meade noted Telmont, a smaller Maison within the Rémy Cointreau family, has seen positive gains in GTR in 2024, pointing to a recent pop-up in CDG Terminal 2E, Gate M, which was primarily dedicated to communications about the benefits of agriculture, with travelling consumers also offered the chance to personalise bottles.

Telmont is currently only listed in a small number of key GTR markets: France, Dubai, Singapore and Seoul, but has plans to gradually grow into similarly important markets, namely the US, Japan, and UK.

Watch the full short below to learn more…

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Rituals acts on ambition to be an impact-driven brand with Profit Pledge

Rituals Founder & CEO, Raymond Cloosterman met with TRBusiness’ Faye Bartle at the 2024 TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes.

Wellbeing beauty brand Rituals is accelerating its ambition to become an impact-driven brand with its Profit Pledge initiative, which commits 10% of the company’s net profits to causes that care for people and the planet, starting from 2025.

Profit Pledge will see Rituals donating an expected EUR300-400 million during the initiative’s first decade, to selected causes.

The first to benefit will be a reforestation project in Colombia, through conservation enterprise Sacred Forests, and a mental resilience app for children called Super Chill.

“Sustainability is incredibly important for everybody,” Rituals Founder and CEO, Raymond Cloosterman told TRBusiness.

“We are very proud that we became one of the first brands in luxury beauty to become B Corp certified [in 2021] and that’s a journey we are building on.”

From refining its formulas to introducing a refill movement, plus much more, Rituals has been working hard to limit its negative impact on the planet. Now, the company wants to take this a step further by focusing on creating a positive impact.

“A new dream is not only to one day be a luxury brand in wellbeing but also to be seen as an impact brand,” explained Cloosterman.

This is how the idea for Profit Pledge was born.

“For me, success comes with responsibility,” he said. “Of course, we are focused on the top line. We want to grow. Of course, we are focused on profitability, because the continuity of the company is priority number one. But why can’t you combine those two with impact and investing something back?

“Managing these is, for me, a new challenge as an entrepreneur and that is what we are going to try to do.”

The Rituals stand at the 2024 TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes.

Profit Pledge was announced internally at the company this summer with Cloosterman saying employees feel motivated by the initiative.

With regards to shoppers, he said: “We are going to see how consumers will react. I don’t think they will buy more because we do this. But I do think in the long run they expect this from us, so it’s also to help make the brand stronger.”

Profit Pledge will be something of a ‘background’ project that’s shared with consumers in subtle ways.

“In the end, we want them to come for our products because of the quality of the fragrances – and they should feel assured in terms of sustainability, with B Corp certification and with our pledge, that we are taking responsibility in the background as well.”

The causes that have been selected to benefit from Profit Pledge are the result of a search for “projects of hope”.

Sacred Forests is an organisation dedicated to the reforestation of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rainforest in Colombia.

Rituals sponsors an indigenous rainforest community in the country, with the aim of helping them to reclaim their land and protect their forest for generations to come.

Together with Sacred Forests, 200,000 hectares of land and biodiversity are now earmarked for protection.

Supporting the mental wellbeing of children is also a driving factor, with a UNICEF analysis showing that an estimated 166 million adolescents globally are experiencing mental disorders, striking a chord with Cloosterman.

This is why Rituals has co-founded and is the exclusive sponsor of Super Chill, a free app that provides kids and caretakers with tools to help build mental resilience.

It features playful exercises around mindfulness, breathwork, yoga and more to help teach children how to keep a positive and healthy mindset. The goal is to reach 10 million children through the app.

Rituals will also continue to support Tiny Miracles, an organisation it co-founded to provide income, healthcare and education support to communities in Mumbai.

“My dream is to build a global luxury brand with a different perspective on beauty. We are here to make you feel good and that’s the wellbeing aspect of our brand promise.” – Rituals Founder and CEO, Raymond Cloosterman.

“We want to contribute to the bigger picture and take responsibility as a company,” said Cloosterman.

“We are learning to do better every single day. The culture we’ve created for the company is to never lose our entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s that spirit which compels us to take action not because others tell us to do so, but because we intrinsically believe in doing the right thing.”

Travel retail business “impressive and important”

On top of sustainability being a key focus, Rituals is placing its efforts on further developing its business in Asia and attracting new generations to the brand.

“Rituals is doing very well. The brand is on fire across Europe and growing very fast in Germany, France and the UK especially, which is amazing,” said Cloosterman.

“We are growing this year by more than 20%, from EUR1.7 billion to hopefully EUR2 billion turnover this year, so that’s a big growth.

“This is mainly due to opening stand-alone stores, and every day we are opening two kiosks somewhere in the world at airports or department stores.

“But the biggest driver of growth is like-for-like growth, so the stores growing – not because of price increases but because of volume and that has been, I would say, completely backed up by our store innovation programme.

“We are bringing 200 products every year, keeping the brand young and relevant and that’s really helping.”

The relaunched Rituals of Sakura line has attracted more Gen Z consumers to the brand.

Building on its success in Europe, Rituals made a big move into Asia in 2023. Among the recent openings is a store in Tokyo (on the domestic market).

“By the end of the year we will have about 40 stores in the region, as the beginning hopefully of a new chapter in our journey,” said Cloosterman. “The initial response has been extremely good, so we are very hopeful.”

The role that travel retail plays in the growth of the business is described as “impressive and important”.

“Travel retail plays a crucial role,” he said. “We need to be discovered at the airports. We need to service people who are travelling at airports, and we need to be in airlines, hotel rooms and cruise liners.

“Since day one, when we founded the company 24 years ago, we’ve been looking for partnerships [in this space] as they are important.

“The good news is that the brand is growing very fast in travel retail and that has everything to do with the great performance and the opening, of course, of new outlets.”

The overall mission for the brand is to take it from its beauty and mindfulness positioning to being a leader in the luxury wellbeing space.

To support this, the company is innovating at a product level and creating relevant content, such as The Book of Rituals. Plus, it’s carving a niche for itself with the launch of wellbeing services available at the Mind Oasis, from the mentally relaxing Brain Massage to the immersive sound and vibration fuelled Breathing Bubble experience.

Cloosterman sees a big need in travel for wellbeing services that help relax passengers and unwind the mind.

“We are experimenting with that in our House of Rituals and maybe one day we can even take it to airports,” he said.

“In travel retail there is always this paradox. All the trend analysts are sure you need more experiences at airports and at the same time we try to manage every square millimetre in terms of profitability – and that doesn’t go hand in hand.

“So airports, maybe together with operators, I think have to be brave or be clear whether they want to pursue this challenge to bring more experiences, as we are ready for it. The industry needs to be ready too.”

Travel retail plays a “crucial role” in Rituals’ business.

Another key focus for the company is to keep on catering to the younger generation of Zoomers and enticing Gen Z to become loyal fans of the brand.

This year’s relaunch of the Ritual of Sakura is a case in point, which has successfully driven new audiences to the brand and into the sores, says Cloosterman.

Combined with the company’s focus on gifting, luxury skincare and EDPs, and now with its Profit Pledge, Rituals is well-placed to achieve its goals.

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