Page 14 - Food&Drink Magazine May 2022

ENVIRONMENT MATTERS
Infusing sustainability into business
The pressure is on for food producers and processors to boost sustainability credentials. Jarrod Kinchington from Infor ANZ looks at what tools businesses can use to do so.
AS outlined by the United Nations, the water-food-energy nexus lies at the core of any sustainable development efforts. And, with food accounting for 26 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is not hard to see why the pressure is on food producers and processors to boost their sustainability credentials.
There is a real need for firms to turn this challenge into an opportunity, making sure products are appealing to increasing customer expectations regarding sustainability and social responsibility, while ensuring compliance with a steady increase in relevant legislative requirements.
In product development in particular, food businesses are having to work smarter and harder to optimise product sustainability.
CUSTOMER-LED CHANGE
The combination of a rise in social media influencers and more media coverage given over
to sustainable and responsible consumption means that more customers want visibility over and real connections with the things they are buying every day, including food products. And it is not just the products themselves that they are concerned about, but how they are packaged and how they are transported too.
Sustainability legislation is undoubtedly on the rise too for food producers, with packaging standards already in place in some countries. For example, requirements for food packaging in Australia are outlined by the Food Safety Code, which specifies packaging materials fit for contamination prevention.
As labelling requirements for nutritional values and allergens are now standard, it is likely there will be an increase in regulations for issues such as carbon emissions and water usage over the next few years.
As such, businesses will strive for compliance not only for the
sake of compliance but to boost their appeal to an increasingly discerning customer base.
While robust sustainability credentials are not yet the ‘licence to operate’ that they will inevitably become, more food businesses are setting themselves apart from the crowd through sustainability.
But, and it is a big but,
what are the boxes that need to be ticked for a product
to be ‘sustainable’? It is here that food businesses are facing perhaps their biggest challenge, particularly when it comes to developing new, ‘sustainable’ products.
THE SCOPE OF SUSTAINABILITY
The most straightforward and somewhat basic approach is to determine the environmental impact of owned or controlled sources, so all those factors within the confines of the food producer.
Take it one step further and include the environmental impact of any electricity, steam,
14 | Food&Drink business | May 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au
Technology is key to optimising sustainability.
heating, cooling processes consumed by the business. But the standard approach should be to expand the scope further still and take into account the environmental impact of every step of the supply chain, so to use that well-worn phrase, from farm-to-fork. And, if the industry is really serious about sustainability, it needs to go beyond the fork, looking at closing the loop of the circular economy, analysing waste and recycling options as well.
But, there are currently no guidelines as to what represents robust sustainability reporting and this is where clarity is needed.
The lack of cohesion and commonality when it comes to product labelling does not help the situation, with consumers seeking clarity about multiple eco-labels from an industry which itself is not always in a position to explain.
Where does sustainability begin and end? For example, there is a growing interest in regenerative agriculture, advocating farming practices which encourage soil fertility, and more suppliers are trying to use less water in production processes too. At the same time, sustainability can include the improvement of social and economic inclusion for farmers and suppliers.
So, where do the sustainability parameters lie? Ultimately, at the moment, it is down to producers and processors to define which are the multiple factors to be considered when determining just how sustainable a product is. This includes meeting customer demand for transparency of sustainability and putting in place the processes that will be able to cope with the introduction of concrete legislative requirements which should create a more level playing field.
DATA OVERLOAD
When it comes to bringing a new, sustainable product to market, the main challenge for