Water Use

Sustainable water use is an issue of increasing global importance, and one we take very seriously. Water scarcity presents several potential risks for our company. In our agricultural supply chain, the place of Kellogg’s largest water impact, farmers use significant quantities of irrigation water to produce the agricultural commodities used in our products. Drought conditions in agricultural regions thus have the potential to increase grain prices, which in turn affects our input costs. In our manufacturing facilities, we use water primarily for cleaning, but also to feed boilers, cool machinery and wet filtration systems, and as a raw ingredient in our products. Water scarcity in areas where our facilities are located could potentially disrupt manufacturing. In addition, water used for irrigation and manufacturing must meet certain quality standards, so we are dependent on other users within each watershed to maintain acceptable quality. We are very mindful of these potential risks and are prepared to address them if they arise. And to do our part in water conservation, we are working hard to minimize our overall water use and our impacts on local water supplies in the communities in which we operate.

Performance

The figure shows our performance since 2005. Our overall water use has risen in the past few years as we have increased production, but water use per metric tonne of food produced has continued to decrease.