Highlights
H E A LT H & N UT R I T I O N Innovation in our portfolio As part of our commitment to meet the nutritional requirements of our consumers, we have research and development initiatives in place that are focused on the continuous improvement of the nutritional profile of our products. Since 2018, we have launched more than 450 products with improved nutritional profiles. Additionally in 2020, in Mexico, we worked in more than 290 products in all our Business Categories and launched a sugarless version of our Yoplait yogurt.
Animal wellbeing 2020 Sustainability Report, executive summary
By focusing on scientific methods and leveraging state-of-the-art technologies, we continually implement new measures and practices designed to comply with our zero-tolerance protocol to ensure the highest safety and quality in the inputs we acquire. For example, in 2020 our Organizational Unit in Europe implemented the Guardian project, a new initiative to assess and continue to strengthen the quality and safety practices of more than 300 of our suppliers including, among other aspects, animal wellbeing.
Quality and safety Our plants have obtained various local and international certifications endorsing their excellence in performance. Our Food Safety Policy aligns to standards recognized by GFSI and includes a Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) in our management. At year-end 2020, we had progressed 87% toward our 2025 Goal, with a total of 60 plants GFSI-certified.
Tastech by Sigma Focusing on the development of new products and continuous improvements in our portfolio, Tastech by Sigma is our business acceleration program aimed at revolutionizing the food industry in collaboration with startups and scaleups around the world. For the first generation of Tastech by Sigma, in 2020 we received applications from 123 startups and scaleups in 19 countries. The eight selected finalists developed pilot tests over the course of four months in Mexico, Ecuador, Portugal, and Spain. To move forward with the development of their disruptive ideas, Sigma supported them with funds and by granting them access to the company’s infrastructure and the know-how of our experts.
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