Juan Gabriel Aguiriano Nalda, Group Head of Sustainability at Kerry, has built his leadership career across multiple sectors, including fibres and polymers, specialty chemicals and complex B2B environments. These early experiences shaped a core leadership belief that continues to guide his work today: long-term performance is achieved by connecting robust strategy with a strong, values-driven culture. A defining milestone in his career was his tenure as Vice President and General Manager of Kerry’s European Taste & Nutrition business. During a period of significant transformation, he helped sharpen the portfolio’s focus on sustainability while strengthening alignment between commercial and innovation teams. This closer integration played a key role in lifting business performance from the bottom to the top quartile within 18 months.
Since 2019, Aguiriano Nalda has served as Group Head of Sustainability, where he has been closely involved in co-creating Kerry’s Beyond the Horizon sustainability strategy. His work focuses on embedding sustainability into everyday decision-making, capital allocation and innovation development across the organisation. The strategy is anchored in Kerry’s 2030 ambition to reach two billion people with sustainable nutrition, supported by science-based targets and responsible sourcing commitments.
Together, these experiences have shaped a leadership style that is purpose-driven, grounded in metrics and built on partnership.
Commercial Strategy and Responsibility: Making Sustainability a Competitive Advantage
At Kerry, sustainability is not an add on—it is built into how we create value. Our ambition is to deliver sustainable nutrition that performs for consumers, for our customers and for the planet.
Every innovation is assessed against four criteria: taste, nutrition, affordability and environmental impact. This disciplined approach is guided by our Beyond the Horizon sustainability strategy and reinforced through transparent annual disclosures across people, planet and society.
Climate action is a central pillar. Kerry is committed to achieving net zero emissions before 2050, with 1.5°C aligned science based targets across Scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2030. These targets sit alongside commitments on food waste reduction, packaging, responsible raw material sourcing and no deforestation. Importantly, they are translated into ingredient and process roadmaps, ensuring that decarbonisation improves product efficiency and cost structures, rather than adding complexity or expense.
Customer collaboration is another critical lever. Whether through shelf life extension, sugar and salt reduction or advanced fermentation platforms, we co develop solutions that deliver measurable nutrition and sustainability benefits while supporting growth.
Strong governance underpins it all. From Board oversight to management scorecards, leaders are accountable for growth that meets clearly defined impact criteria. When growth is linked directly to impact, sustainability becomes a competitive advantage.
Lessons from Multi-Industry Transformation: Materiality, Models and Mindset
Three lessons stand out from my experience. The first is the importance of starting with materiality and focusing on end-to-end value creation. You quickly learn to focus on what really moves the needle. We only focus our energy where we can generate real value.
Treat sustainability as a profit engine, not a compliance cost. Too often, it is framed as an obligation rather than as a catalyst for innovation and growth.
The second lesson is that technology is necessary, but business model innovation is decisive. In food, pairing biotechnology solutions like enzymes and fermentation with redesigned customer collaboration models accelerates adoption and impact.
Finally, culture change is what scales transformation; investing in talent, creating the right incentives and building cross-functional teams is what sustains results beyond pilots and embeds positive changes long-term.
Scaling Sustainability in Food: The Strategic Levers That Deliver Impact
At Kerry, we focus on five interconnected levers that embed sustainability at the heart of our growth strategy.
The first is decarbonisation. We have developed detailed roadmaps, linking Scope 1, 2 and 3 pathways to specific categories and manufacturing sites. Projects are prioritised based on clear returns. Progress is reported annually against our 2017 baseline as we move towards net zero by 2050.
Food waste prevention is another critical lever. Through advanced protection and preservation technologies, we extend shelf life and help reduce food waste. This delivers tangible value for retailers and consumers while significantly lowering emissions.
We are also re engineering nutrition without compromising on taste. Reformulating to reduce sugar, salt and fat—while preserving the sensory experience consumers expect—allows us to meet evolving regulations and preferences, and to support markets with higher nutritional standards.
Biotechnology is transformative. Scaling fermentation, cultures and enzymes enables lower footprint functionality and new protein solutions, strengthening supply resilience and unlocking new categories.
Finally, responsible sourcing is fundamental. By 2030, all priority raw materials will be responsibly sourced, with deep supplier partnerships focused on delivering meaningful Scope 3 emissions reductions.
Together, these levers enable sustainable change at scale, creating positive impact while strengthening competitive advantage for Kerry and our customers.
Aligning Sustainability and Growth Functions: How Collaboration Drives Value Creation
Collaboration at Kerry starts with a shared brief: purpose multiplied by performance. Teams do not operate with competing objectives; instead, we align around a single set of targets, with each function applying its own expertise.
Category growth plans include nutritional and environmental KPIs. R&D teams integrate life cycle assessment checkpoints to ensure impact is measured at every stage, while Commercial teams focus on translating these solutions into market ready propositions that deliver verified customer value.
We have also evolved how we innovate. Chefs, food scientists and data analysts now co create concepts digitally before piloting. This AI enabled approach improves speed, efficiency and sustainability in product development.
Transparency builds trust. Whether we are making claims around shelf life extension, sugar reduction or carbon footprint improvement, they are supported by robust evidence. Detailed data across preservation performance, nutritional outcomes and carbon accounting allows customers to make informed decisions and strengthens long term partnerships.
Guidance for Leaders: Turning Sustainability into a Growth Engine
Treat sustainability as a profit engine, not a compliance cost. Too often, it is framed as an obligation rather than as a catalyst for innovation and growth.
Start with a bold, measurable ambition—one that forces clear choices. At Kerry, our goal to reach two billion people with sustainable nutrition by 2030 directly shapes portfolio decisions and capital allocation.
Embed sustainability into governance and investment processes so initiatives are evaluated on both financial and impact returns. Disclosure through annual and sustainability reporting ensures transparency and accountability.
Finally, prioritise partnerships. No organisation can address these challenges alone. Collaboration across the value chain and with industry peers—reduces risk, accelerates adoption and enables scale for solutions that deliver lasting impact.
