Mondelēz Reports Mixed Progress on 2025 Sustainable Sourcing Goals

Takeaways

• Mondelēz met its 2025 sustainable sourcing targets for cocoa and palm oil while making significant progress toward its cage-free egg commitment.
• The company reported a slight decline in dairy sourced from suppliers with formal animal welfare standards, highlighting uneven progress across its supply chain.
• Beyond sourcing, Mondelēz exceeded its water-reduction goal and further cut manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mondelēz International has reported mixed results across its 2025 sustainable sourcing goals, achieving major milestones in cocoa and palm oil procurement while facing setbacks in one area of animal welfare. The company's latest annual report highlights steady progress in several sustainability initiatives, alongside challenges that remain within parts of its global supply chain.

One of the company's biggest achievements was reaching its target of sourcing 100% of the cocoa used in its chocolate brands through its Cocoa Life program. This marks a notable improvement from 91% in the previous year and completes a goal the company has pursued for more than a decade.

Introduced in 2012, the Cocoa Life initiative is designed to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers while tackling issues such as deforestation and child labour. The program also relies on independent third-party verification to monitor cocoa volumes sourced from participating farming communities, helping strengthen transparency across the supply chain.

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Mondelēz also maintained 100% sustainably sourced palm oil, meeting its long-standing commitment through full certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The certification confirms that the palm oil used by the company meets internationally recognised sustainability standards for responsible production and sourcing.

The company also reported encouraging progress in its transition to cage-free eggs. Eggs sourced from suppliers using cage-free hens increased to 82% in 2025, up from 66% a year earlier. The figures exclude operations in Russia, Ukraine, China, Morocco and Vietnam, where supply constraints continue to affect availability.

Mondelēz has set a goal of sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by 2027 in all applicable markets except the five excluded countries. It also plans to reach full cage-free sourcing in Vietnam by 2030 while continuing to address supply-related challenges in other regions.

Despite these improvements, the company experienced a decline in another area of responsible sourcing. Dairy obtained from suppliers that follow formal animal welfare standards dropped slightly from 67% in 2024 to 65% in 2025. The report did not provide an explanation for the decrease, and the company has not publicly commented on the change.

Outside its sourcing activities, Mondelēz reported strong environmental performance during the year. The company reduced absolute water use at priority manufacturing sites by 18%, comfortably exceeding its target of a 10% reduction using 2018 as the baseline. These priority facilities are located in regions identified as having high or extremely high water stress.

The company noted that the water-use figures exclude rainwater collected and reused on-site, as well as water withdrawn and returned to natural sources without significant alteration.

Mondelēz also continued to reduce emissions from its manufacturing operations. Greenhouse gas emissions fell 45% compared with 2018 levels, improving from a 37% reduction reported in 2024. The latest figures reflect continued efforts to lower the environmental impact of production while advancing broader sustainability commitments.

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Although the company celebrated key achievements in cocoa sourcing, palm oil certification, water conservation and emissions reduction, the dip in dairy animal welfare performance suggests that progress across sustainable sourcing remains uneven. As Mondelēz works toward its longer-term environmental and responsible sourcing goals, maintaining consistent improvements across all supply chains will remain an important focus.

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Source: ESGDIVE