Hong Kong’s Vitasoy sees young talent as key ingredient in sustainability success: CEO
“We are at the beginning of the journey and we need help,” CEO Roberto Guidetti says as company works on climate-transition goals
Attracting young talent to improve the sustainability performance of 84-year-old Hong Kong-based Vitasoy International is so important to CEO Roberto Guidetti that he insists on being directly involved.
The 61 year-old Italian, a veteran of nearly two decades at Procter & Gamble and six years at Coca-Cola before joining Vitasoy in 2013, interviews candidates for sustainability positions himself.
“Many people, especially the Millennials and Generation Z in our sustainability team, told me one reason they were keen to join our company was because I interviewed them personally, which showed the importance of sustainability to Vitasoy,” Guidetti told the Post.
“We are at the beginning of the journey and we need help. We need to understand what are best-in-class practices in our industry … and how companies are able to move forward.”
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How Hong Kong’s 84-year-old beverage brand Vitasoy embraces sustainability challenges
The fact that the company’s products – mainly soy, almond and oat milks, lemon teas, and tofu – are climate-friendly has helped attract a younger generation of managers that is more educated about the sustainability benefits of plant-based food and drink products, and more likely to consume them themselves, Guidetti said.
Oat- and soy-based drinks have a carbon footprint 62 to 71 per cent lower than dairy milk, and their production uses 80 per cent less land and 99 per cent less water, according to a study by American and European researchers published in the Nutrients scientific journal last year.
