U CAN initiative helps make ice cream and sustainability a delicious combination

TORONTO, Aug. 2, 2016 /CNW/ - The next time you reach for your favourite ice cream bar, you could be making a choice to support sustainability efforts globally.

Helping Canadians make a positive impact on the planet by actively choosing more sustainable brands and products is the idea behind U CAN, Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan in Canada. U CAN is a Canadian program, but it is part of a global sustainability initiative that touches brands and communities around the world.

For example, enjoying a Magnum ice cream bar might not seem like a way of helping the environment, but when you do, you support a larger sustainability effort here in Canada and around the world:

• Magnum works with the Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit organization helping to create a better tomorrow for cocoa farmers, their families, their communities, and the environment.
• Magnum sources its cocoa in a sustainable and responsible way, by sourcing the majority of its cocoa beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms.
• By sourcing the majority of its cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, Magnum supports the Rainforest Alliance in its goal to protect workers' health and wellbeing, support wildlife populations, and enhance water quality on certified farms.

Through U CAN, Canadians can make product choices that have a positive impact extending beyond Canada.

U CAN in action in your home

U CAN includes household names like Magnum, Breyers, Ben & Jerry's, Fruttare, Dove, Vaseline, Lipton, Red Rose, and Hellmann's. Each of these brands addresses sustainability in different ways, whether by reducing packaging, sourcing ingredients sustainably, manufacturing products using renewable energy, or by improving Canadians' well-being.

• Much of the cocoa in Magnum is sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, grown by cocoa farmers who conserve natural resources through their farming practices.
• Breyers, Popsicle, Magnum, Hellmann's and Ben & Jerry's are all made in facilities bullfrogpowered® with 100% clean, renewable electricity.
• Ben & Jerry's is committed to sourcing Fairtrade ingredients, traded in compliance with Fairtrade standards where available, including cocoa, vanilla, coffee, bananas and sugar, for all of its products.
• Breyers plastic tub lids have been redesigned to reduce resin by 1.33 million pounds and the coating on carton sidewalls has been reduced to eliminate 144 tonnes of material in North America
• Lipton and Red Rose tea sold in Canada is sustainably sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms and the paper and board used for tea cartons are all from sustainably managed forests or recycled material.
• The Dove Self-Esteem Project is helping improve the self-esteem of young women. Since 2005, more than 2 million young Canadians have been reached through self-esteem and body confidence workshops and resources.
• Through a partnership with Direct Relief, the Vaseline Healing Project is helping provide dermatological care, medical supplies and Vaseline Jelly to help heal the skin of people living on the frontlines of crisis and disaster.

"Unilever believes in both supporting and leading sustainable initiatives that impact lives in Canada and globally," says Unilever Vice-President and General Counsel, John Coyne. "The U CAN sustainability program helps show Canadians the deeper story and benefits behind many of the product choices they already make everyday."

To learn more about U CAN, visit www.unilever.ca/sustainable-living. Or, show how #UCAN make a difference by sharing on social media how you make sustainable choices.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of food, home and personal care products with sales in more than 190 countries. In Canada, our portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe®, Becel®, Ben & Jerry's®, Breyers®, Clear®, Degree®, Dove® personal care products, Fruttare®, Hellmann's®, Klondike®, Knorr®, Lipton®, Magnum®, Nexxus®, Ponds®, Popsicle®, Q-Tips®, Simple®, St. Ives®, TRESemmé®, Vaseline® and others. All of the preceding brand names are owned or used under license by Unilever Canada Inc.

In the 2015 Dow Jones Sustainability Index Unilever was ranked number one in its sector. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2015 GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the fifth year running, and in 2015 was ranked the most sustainable food and beverage company in Oxfam's Behind the Brands Scorecard.

SOURCE Unilever Canada

Alanna Glass, Harbinger, [phone] x219, [email protected]