( around US $ 30mn ) in agricultural machinery to maximise efficiency and mitigate labour intensity for its Chinese operations , as well as working extensively with local farmers to educate them on the most sustainable growing methods . In the same whitepaper , AB Sugar China noted that growers ’ net income has risen by 166 % over the five years preceding publication , another direct result of the company ’ s intensive modernisation programme . Yield has leapt up significantly as well , with an increase of 35 % between 2011 and 2018 . One of the headline-grabbing news stories of recent times involved plastic islands in the ocean . AB is keen to outline its efforts to reduce its reliance in this area . “ We are a biomass ,” says Teague . “ We could be used to make plastics , which are obviously more sustainable if you want to call it that , but we also have plastic in our end-to-end supply chain from the carton and bags we send out . We ’ re looking at how we reduce that down and ensure that all our plastics within our supply chain will be reusable , recyclable , biodegradable and compostable .”
39 asia . businesschief . com