WASTE NOT -
The statistics on food waste — a top-of-mind issue governments, businesses and NGOs across the globe — are staggering: Every year, U.S. consumers, businesses, and farms spend $218 billion growing, processing, transporting, and disposing food that is never eaten. As a result, up to 52 million tons of food is sent to landfills annually, plus an additional estimated 10 million tons get discarded or go unharvested on farms. Meanwhile, 1 in 7 Americans is food insecure without reliable access to sufficient affordable, nutritious food.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Alternative protein company Exo announced the close of a $4 million Series A funding round today. The company’s cricket flour protein bars are “formulated for taste” to “appeal to everybody” by Kyle Connaughton, former Head Chef of R&D at The Fat Duck. The funding round was led by AccelFoods, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on food and beverage companies.
COLLABORATION -
Protein is an essential part of any diet. As the global population surges to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, meeting the world’s demand for protein will become increasingly difficult. Having researched the issue and after working with 200 stakeholders, Forum for the Future is bringing together organisations across the protein system to collaborate as part of The Protein Challenge 2040.
WASTE NOT -
The UK is the epicenter of the circular economy movement, with both the public and private sectors making sweeping commitments and headway toward eliminating waste of all kinds throughout its economy.
PRESS RELEASE -
Access to basic health care is critical for the wellbeing of rural West African cocoa communities. To help meet the need, The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) partnered with cocoa suppliers Blommer Chocolate and Olam Cocoa to fund and build a community health center in Cote d’Ivoire in the town of Teapleau on the Western side of the country. Cote d’Ivoire is one of the largest cocoa-producing countries in the world.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Food waste has been one of the trendiest topics in sustainability of late, as more and more people have become aware that as much as one third of the world’s food is being wasted. The UN set a target to halve global food waste as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the CEOs of Nestlé, Tesco, Unilever, and other leaders formed Champions 12.3 to pursue.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Obesity is a big problem in numerous countries around the world. Obesity rates are above 20 percent in every US state, and exceed 35 percent in 3 states (Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi). Every state is expected to reach a rate of at least 44 percent by 2030, and in 13 states, the rate is expected to surpass 60 percent. Across the pond, the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that 74 percent of men and 64 percent of women in the UK will be overweight or obese by 2030.
WASTE NOT -
MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations.The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Campbell Soup Company has announced that it is launching a $125 million venture capital (VC) fund to invest in food startups. The fund, under the banner Acre Venture Partners L.P., will be managed by unidentified outsiders independent of Campbell, although the food giant is its sole limited partner.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
In one of the highlights of the SB’16 Copenhagen preview event in Denmark last week, Simon Hoffmeyer Boas, Sustainability Director at Carlsberg, introduced the beer giant’s pioneering new packaging solution, The Green Fibre Bottle. Away from the stage, Boas took a moment to discuss the challenges of sustainable packaging and the importance of consumer engagement to the development and success of eco-friendly products.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
In 2014, nearly 90 percent of Americans said they consider where a food product is produced when making a purchasing decision, and about two thirds said they would pay more for food that is produced closer to home. As the local food movement continues to become more mainstream in North America, it seems inevitable that brands will jump on the bandwagon.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Tyson Foods Inc. was the second biggest polluter of America’s waterways from 2010 to 2014, according to data the company submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Toxic Release Inventory.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Policymakers can learn about how the transformation of agricultural markets is likely to affect the poor in the developing world by studying Walmart, says a new report from the Global Food and Agriculture Program at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.Small Farmers, Big Retailers: Are New Sourcing Strategies a Path to Inclusion? examines Walmart’s food sourcing strategies in two markets — China and Nicaragua — to draw lessons for governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and companies trying to meet the growing demand for food from rapidly growing urban populations.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
As the demand for transparency and emphasis on consumer choice continue to grow, so do the challenges of supply chain management. Brands are increasingly expected to work with their suppliers to reduce their environmental impact, eliminate labor abuses, and replace certain ingredients. Ensuring product quality and label accuracy remains an issue, especially for brands with international suppliers or extensive supply chains.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Through Monday, February 15, McDonald’s stores in the U.S. will be swapping toys for books in its Happy Meals. Four children’s books have been specially printed to fit in small Happy Meal boxes, and some stores will have Spanish versions available. By the end of this year, the company expects to have distributed more than 50 million books to children – enough to provide a book to every child in America under the age of 12.
LEADERSHIP -
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched the Markets Institute, a dedicated platform working with stakeholders — particularly the private sector — to increase the speed and scale of market-based approaches to help optimize global food sector sustainability.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
On Friday, Mars, Incorporated announced that it will remove all artificial colors from its human food products. Over the next 5 years, artificial colors will be phased out of the company's chocolate, gum, confection, food and drink businesses. The company asserts that artificial colors pose no risks to human health or safety, but that the change comes in response to consumer demand for the increased use of natural ingredients.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Could the health and environmental benefits of taxes on sugary drinks and carbon-intensive foods outweigh the out-of-pocket costs? New research from Oxford University and the University of Reading suggests that is indeed the case. A study published in BMC Public Health found that a combination of a sugar tax on soft drinks and a food-based carbon tax in the United Kingdom could raise £3.6 billion in revenue, reduce carbon emissions by 19 million tonnes, and increase life expectancy.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Campaigners for action on food waste have had much to celebrate recently. The Rockefeller Foundation launched YieldWise, a $130 million initiative to tackle loss between farm and market and demonstrating how the world can halve food loss by 2030. This coincided with the launch of Champions 12.3, a collaboration of 30 executives and ministers united in their dedication to meeting SDG target 12.3.
LEADERSHIP -
More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, and over 50,000 more arrived by boat in January 2016. While most asylum seekers are trying to escape the war in Syria, tens of thousands are also fleeing Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Albania, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Serbia, and Ukraine. Once they arrive in Europe, they face numerous barriers to employment – not the least of which are the influx of people, tough economic times, and employers’ perception of refugees.