Autori: Mario Cerutti, Enrico D’Onofrio, Veronica Rossi
“In un mondo che distrugge i beni della natura, io non ci sto”. This was the purposeful statement – originally from Mr. Luigi Lavazza back in 1935 – that came to the mind of Mr. Antonio Baravalle – Lavazza Group CEO – on April 1st, 2021, when leaving the recently built headquarters Nuvola in Borgata Aurora (Turin), after another intense and fulfilling day of work. Lavazza had just released the 2020 financial results: Revenues of € 2.1billion, slightly down on the 2019 figure of € 2.2 € billion, Ebitda of € 253.0 million – against € 291.0 million in 2019 – and Net Profit of € 73.0 million versus € 127.4 million the year earlier. Net Financial Position was positive and had reached € 102.0 million, improving from the previous year of € 82.1 million. The reported results were confirming the strong financial solidity of the Company and had been achieved in a complex and difficult year, that had seen the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic deeply changing consumers’ behaviours. However, even more remarkable was the continued commitment to Sustainability. After internalising the SDG Goals into Lavazza’s Strategy, focusing on 4 goals and launching the GOAL ZERO (an innovative idea of Lavazza), the Company was moving forward with another daunting challenge: the “Roadmap to Zero”. ESG criteria were increasingly integrated in the Group strategy, the first milestone reached with the Roadmap to Zero, for which about 50 million euro had been invested in for the period 2020-2021. Goal was to work to reach Lavazza Group’s carbon neutrality by the end of 2030. The question was how deep Lavazza could embed all its sustainability values inside the Company and outside as well, to foster a positive transformation across the whole industry? What kind of activities could be done to accelerate this strategy? The fact that Lavazza was still owned by an enlightened family could help? How this would compare with the financial pressure that other listed multinationals and smaller private companies would feel, where quarterly profit reviews and/or overall economic results would put pressure on the single bottom line profitability versus the triple bottom line profitability that Lavazza could pursue? Could this fully purpose-driven approach become a disadvantage in the short run for Lavazza? Conversely, might the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic reinforce Lavazza’s conscious business and responsible leadership?
