Huhtamaki reviews 2030 strategy

Going forward, Huhtamaki said, it will focus on growth, competitiveness, talent and sustainability.

Huhtamaki will continue to be a growth company and will further focus on competitiveness. Sustainability also has a key role in Huhtamaki’s renewed strategy. The company said it is taking a leading role within the food packaging industry in addressing the global challenges of circularity and climate change. Acknowledging that packaging has a significant role to play, Huhtamaki said it is setting high sustainability goals.

Huhtamaki will boost growth by scaling up its operations and further investing in emerging markets as well as capturing the opportunities related to sustainable solutions and food delivery.

“We will continue to grow through a relentless focus on innovation, scaling up in growth markets and developing new businesses to meet changing consumer needs,”​ Charles Héaulmé, president and CEO of Huhtamaki, said.

“We will become more competitive by digitalizing all operations, running our manufacturing more efficiently and simplifying the way we work globally. In addition, we will develop our talent by building strategic capabilities and a high-performance culture. We aim to become best-in-class in safety. We will embed sustainability in everything we do.​

“We have set very high sustainability ambitions, amongst them a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in our production and Science Based Targets by 2030. We want to become world-class in all three areas of sustainability: environmental, social and governance. We will also strengthen and focus our innovation, designing all our products to be recyclable, compostable or re-usable.”​

Huhtamaki’s new 2030 sustainability ambitions are:

•  Carbon neutral production and Science Based Targets

•  100% of products designed to be recyclable, compostable or reusable

•  100% of fiber from recycled or certified sources

•  More than 80% of raw materials either renewable or recycled

•  100% of electricity from renewable sources

•  More than 90% of non-hazardous waste to be recycled or composted

In line with its renewed strategy, the company has decided to integrate its Foodservice Europe-Asia-Oceania and Fiber Packaging business segments. Integrating the two business segments allows the company to capture growth opportunities more efficiently by improving customers’ access to both molded fiber and paperboard forming technologies.

The segments will continue to be reported separately, at least for the remainder of the financial year 2020.

As part of the renewed strategy, Huhtamaki has also outlined its long-term financial ambitions:

•  Comparable growth: 5+%

•  Adjusted EBIT margin: 10+%

•  Net debt / Adjusted EBITDA ratio: 2-3

•  Dividend payout ratio: 40-50%