SUPPLY CHAIN -
Starbucks has become the latest corporation to move its water bottling operations out of California: Last Thursday, the company announced that it would move sourcing and manufacturing of its Ethos Water out of state due to the serious drought conditions and necessary water-conservation efforts in California. Over the next six months, Starbucks plans to move production to its Pennsylvania supplier, while exploring alternatives to transition to a new source and supplier to serve the company’s West Coast distribution.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
On Friday, Mars announced it would support two important recommendations designed to help consumers limit their intake of added sugars and achieve healthier, more balanced diets.The candy giant is endorsing recommendations that people should limit their intake of added sugars to no more than 10 percent of their total calorie intake. The recommendations come from leading global health authorities including the World Health Organization, the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.
WASTE NOT -
Food wasted by consumers is an enormous economic problem and countries should ensure excess food is given to the hungry instead of being thrown away, according to agriculture ministers from the Group of 20 leading countries, as reported by Reuters.The ministers were meeting for a two-day meeting in Istanbul that focused on problems of food security and nutrition, such as the impact of global warming. Reducing food waste could improve food security, the they concluded.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
At a shareholder meeting on Tuesday, a proposal to Kraft Foods Group asserting that non-recyclable packaging — particularly that of Capri Sun pouches — is wasting valuable resources received the support of 29.2 percent of shares voted, according to As You Sow. The shares favoring the proposal have a market value of more than $9 billion.
LEADERSHIP -
Unilever, Coca-Cola, General Mills and Nestlé rank highest among food and beverage businesses in managing scarce water resources, but most major companies need to adopt far stronger practices, according to a new report released Thursday by nonprofit sustainability advocacy group Ceres.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Today, Panera Bread shared its progress in removing a host of what the company deems “unacceptable” ingredients. Panera has committed to remove artificial additives and published a No No List of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives that the Company has eliminated or intends to remove from its U.S. Panera Bread® and St. Louis Bread Co.® bakery-café food menus by the end of 2016. This move makes Panera Bread the first national restaurant company in the U.S. to publicly share a comprehensive list of ingredients that will be removed from or will never appear in its menu items.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Hershey achieved 30 percent use of certified cocoa in 2014, putting the company ahead of schedule to hit its 2015 goal of 50 percent, according to Hershey’s 2014 Sustainability Report.The company has pledged to use 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa in all chocolate products by 2020.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) has issued its latest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, highlighting advances made during the past year against wide-ranging CSR goals. In particular, Hershey made continued progress through initiatives and programs supporting the company’s work in responsible sourcing, environmental sustainability, ingredient transparency and simple ingredients.
WASTE NOT -
Disneyland Resort has been recognized by the EPA with the 2014 Food Recovery Challenge Award, for its zero-waste efforts and the highest percent increase in food recovery of any theme park in the nation.In 2012, Americans threw away nearly 35 million tons of food — more than any other type of material being put in landfills. As wasted food decomposes in a landfill, it generates methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that wasted food costs America more than $165 billion annually and that the average family of four throws away $1,600 worth of food each year.
WASTE NOT -
Preserve, producer of sustainable consumer goods with a focus on creating closed loop products using recycled plastic, today announced the launch of Preserve 2 Go — a durable, reusable clamshell container designed for use in food services.Developed to “transform the takeout food experience and to provide an avenue for a more sustainable, eco-friendly system”, Preserve 2 Go could help eliminate the unnecessary waste of millions of disposable to-go containers.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Heineken has teamed up with Blippar — the augmented reality smartphone app — to launch a new digital campaign that taps into increasing consumer interest into sustainability and a desire to understand more about the ingredients of beer.To highlight the beer giant’s commitment to buying 50 percent of its main raw materials from sustainable sources by 2020, the “Legendary 7” campaign tells the story of seven farmers from France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and the UK who produce the sustainable barley and hops used to brew Heineken beer.
BLOG -
It’s time once again for the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) — our annual competition for startups poised to make scalable, sustainable impacts. Each year, we receive submissions from hundreds of purpose-driven ventures innovating to shape the future of business, and we’ve selected 11 finalists for this year’s SBIO, presented by Target and co-sponsored by SicaSoft and Sprint — winners to be announced June 3 at SB ’15 San Diego.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Chipotle has become the first major restaurant chain to announce it will begin serving only food that is free of genetically engineered ingredients, The New York Times reports.Steve Ells, founder and co-chief executive of Chipotle, said this is another step toward the company’s vision of changing the way people think about and eat fast food.“Just because food is served fast doesn’t mean it has to be made with cheap raw ingredients, highly processed with preservatives and fillers and stabilizers and artificial colors and flavors,” he said.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This week has seen another concerted push by concerned stakeholders to clean up major brands’ supply chains.On Tuesday, for the second time in a month, hundreds of activists once again took part in a Week of Action in grocery stores and public spaces across the United States, rebranding grocery store shelves and engaging shoppers to warn them that products from PepsiCo’s Quaker brand may contain Conflict Palm Oil.
PRESS RELEASE -
In September 2014, UC Davis and Mars, Incorporated, agreed to a partnership that created the Innovation Institute for Food and Health, managed through the UC Davis World Food Center. In January this collaboration was officially launched.Bruce German, a food science and technology professor as well as the facilitator of the development of the Innovation Institute for Food and Health, said that the goal of the partnership is to bring science into practice in order to create advances in sustainable agriculture, food safety and health.“At the core of this institute is the realization that it is not enough for UC Davis to lead the world in agriculture and food science: we must lead the world in bringing that science to practice,” German said.
WASTE NOT -
Nestlé USA has had a busy year so far: The company has publicly committed to removing all artificial flavors and colors from its chocolate candy by the end of 2015 and purchased enough certified cocoa to produce its entire Easter chocolate collection, a first for a major U.S. candy manufacturer.
LEADERSHIP -
Coca-Cola on Thursday pledged an additional $35 million to support sustainable safe water access and sanitation programs for 4 million more people across Africa by 2020.This new funding builds on an original Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) commitment of $30 million to bring safe water access to 2 million people across the African continent by the end of 2015 made at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul in 2009. Coca-Cola says this funding will help to improve the lives of more than a total of 6 million Africans through sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) by 2020.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition's (BCFN) Young Earth Solutions! (YES!) program is running its fourth innovation contest to encourage young researchers and university students under the age of 35 to develop innovative solutions to problems within the global food system.Past BCFN YES! finalist ideas include more informative food labels, the incorporation of more plant-based meals into school lunches, apps to help consumers make healthier choices, waste-free technology for fruit and vegetable processing and more.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The European Commission has launched an online consultation on how science and innovation can help the EU “ensure safe, nutritious, sufficient and sustainable food globally.”The consultation will underpin the debate on a future research agenda to help tackle global food and nutrition security challenges. It will focus on the areas where the EU's research efforts can have the strongest impact, including how to improve public health through nutrition; increase food safety and quality; reduce food loss and waste; make rural development more sustainable; increase agricultural yields through sustainable intensification; and how to better understand food markets and increase access to food for people around the world.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Last month’s announcement that Heinz will acquire Kraft Foods opens a bevy of questions for a company that as a combined force will have annual sales of at least US$28 billion. At a time when consumer food tastes are changing, especially amongst millennials, some will question the viability of a company that relies on sales of ketchup and mac and cheese. But this massive company’s reach also brings up questions about its environmental and human rights impacts — particularly when it comes to palm oil.