Barry Callebaut x Arla Foods supply chain decarbonisation: overview
- Barry Callebaut and Arla Foods target supply chain emissions reductions
- Three-year collaboration begins with decarbonising skimmed milk powder production
- Initiative supports lower-carbon dairy ingredients through targeted sustainability measures
- Reducing enteric methane emissions remains a key project focus
- Partnership could accelerate dairy decarbonisation across wider food industries
Barry Callebaut Group has joined forces with Arla Foods to cut carbon emissions.
The three-year collaboration aims to decarbonise Barry Callebaut’s dairy supply chain, starting with the skimmed milk powder it sources from Arla.
Cutting carbon emissions
Arla will provide Barry Callebaut with annual primary carbon footprint data linked to the volumes of dairy it supplies, helping the chocolate maker track and reduce emissions across its dairy supply chain.
This, says Barry Callebaut, will help fast-track its Scope 3 emissions reduction efforts, enabling it to scale up decarbonisation initiatives across dairy farms in its supplier network.
“Decarbonising dairy is essential to reducing our carbon footprint,” says Tilmann Silber, head of net zero at Barry Callebaut. “This partnership is a testament to our commitment to driving meaningful progress on our Net Zero journey.”
It also marks a significant milestone in advancing Barry Callebaut’s net zero strategy and supports its broader Net Zero Chocolate Solutions offering, which helps customers reduce the end-to-end footprint of their cocoa and chocolate products.
Cutting carbon in dairy
Dairy’s widely recognised as one of the most complex categories to decarbonise, as emissions are embedded throughout the supply chain.
Alongside feed production and enteric methane, emissions are generated through manure management, on-farm energy use and milk transportation and processing, requiring coordinated action across multiple stakeholders to deliver significant reductions.
Farm-level data is viewed as critical to these efforts, as it provides a more accurate picture of emissions than industry-average estimates.
By linking emissions data to specific milk volumes and farms, manufacturers can better identify hotspots, track progress and target interventions where they’ll have the greatest impact.
“We are pleased to work closely together with Barry Callebaut on our shared goal to reduce emissions from dairy,” says Cathrine Konge Varming, senior director of sustainability innovation and development at Arla. “Through the partnership, we can further support the actions our farmer owners are taking to produce high-quality dairy as efficiently as possible while providing valuable data for Barry Callebaut’s reporting purposes.”
No specific emissions-reduction target has been disclosed, though supplier partnerships are increasingly central to food manufacturers’ decarbonisation strategies.
For most food and beverage companies, Scope 3 emissions account for the vast majority of their carbon footprint, making collaboration across the value chain essential to meeting climate goals.
How the partnership works
Under the agreement, participating farmers will be incentivised to adopt practices that help lower emissions on their farms. These can include measures such as improving feed efficiency, optimising manure management, increasing renewable energy use and implementing other climate-smart farming techniques.
The collaboration also builds on Arla’s wider sustainability efforts. The dairy cooperative already operates a farmer incentive programme that rewards actions linked to lower emissions and improved environmental performance, positioning it as a strategic partner for companies seeking lower-carbon dairy ingredients.
Partnership’s key principles:
- Primary farm-level carbon footprint reporting
- Alignment with recognised greenhouse gas (GHG) and dairy carbon methodologies
- Use of incentive payments for farmers that apply practices that reduce emissions
Industry-wide challenge
Despite growing investment in emissions-reduction technologies and programmes, dairy remains one of the most difficult food categories to decarbonise, largely because many of its emissions come from biological processes associated with cattle rather than energy use.
As a result, food manufacturers are increasingly looking beyond their own operations and working more closely with suppliers and farmers to drive reductions at source.
Partnerships such as the one between Barry Callebaut and Arla reflect a growing recognition that meaningful progress on Scope 3 emissions will depend on greater transparency, robust farm-level data and incentives that reward lower-carbon production.
The collaboration could also help set a precedent for the wider food industry. As demand grows for more accurate emissions reporting and lower-carbon ingredients, manufacturers may face increasing pressure to move away from industry-average estimates and adopt primary data from suppliers. If successful, the model could encourage similar partnerships across dairy and other agricultural value chains, accelerating efforts to reduce emissions where they are most difficult to tackle.
Barry Callebaut’s Scope 3 emissions
Beyond dairy, Barry Callebaut has opportunities to further reduce Scope 3 emissions across its supply chain, with critical areas including cocoa cultivation and logistics.
The company could also work with suppliers to transition to renewable energy, reduce fertiliser use in agricultural production, and increase the use of lower-carbon ingredients and packaging materials.
