Coca-Cola Enterprises supplier of the year award recognises APPE's sustainability contribution

Europe’s leading PET packaging and food grade rPET manufacturer APPE (the Packaging Division of La Seda de Barcelona) has been named 2010 ‘Supplier of the Year’ at Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE’s) second Supplier Sustainability Summit and Awards Ceremony. The awards were presented to suppliers who contributed significantly to support CCE’s business and Sustainability goals during 2010. APPE was commended for their excellent contribution covering quality, customer service and technical support, and in helping CCE to achieve its Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CRS) goals. David Cowell, VP Procurement, Supply Chain explains: “Through our annual Supplier Awards, we recognise the considerable value our strong partnerships with organisations like APPE bring to our business. APPE has demonstrated outstanding customer service, quality and commitment to achieving joint objectives that are helping us to reduce our carbon footprint and achieve our CRS goals. In particular, APPE has made a significant contribution in helping us to reduce the impact of our packaging by decreasing the weight of our bottles and increasing the amount of recycled material from which they are made.” APPE has enjoyed a strong partnership with CCE for over 20 years and particularly in supporting CCE in light-weighting its bottles. In addition, during 2010 APPE finalised a €10m expansionat its state-of-the-art PET recycling plant in Beaune, France, making it the largest food-grade rPET producer in Europe, thus ensuring the highest quality of bottle to bottle rPET supply to CCE. At the same time, the company has implemented a number of internal initiatives and investments to reduce energy and water consumption. A number of other carbon reduction programmes have been established within its 9 facilities across Europe and North Africa, which has led to a reduction in its own carbon footprint.“Through our longstanding partnership with CCE, we share the same vision in terms of a commitment to exceptional customer service and to delivering sustainable packaging solutions,” comments Martin Hargreaves, APPE’s General Manager. “We are delighted that our efforts have been recognised through CCE’s ‘2010 Supplier of the Year’ award and look forward to continuing to further strengthen and develop our partnership in the coming years.” The CCE Award winners are identified through CCE’s Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) programme, which uses a rigorous scorecard to measure performance, with each CCE supplier measured against criteria in four key areas – quality, service, value and CRS. Performance is then reviewed by the CCE Procurement team to ensure that the value being delivered to CCE is closely aligned with the business’s broader corporate priorities, and to develop ongoing relationships. The Awards were held in Paris as part of CCE’s Sustainability Summit which brought together all its key suppliers to discuss collaboration on sustainability issues across the company’s supply chain.