BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Member companies of the Pacific Alliance for Sustainable Tuna, representing 93 percent of tuna production in Mexico, have announced they will refrain from fishing Pacific Bluefin tuna until 2020.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) released a new progress report, titled Testing Commitments to Cut Conflict Palm Oil, ranking the relative strength of palm oil commitments made since the launch of its Snack Food 20 campaign two years ago. The 2015 progress report shines a spotlight on the laggards in the Snack Food 20 and outlines the actions that these companies — as well as the frontrunners who are pushing ahead on their commitments — can and must take to rapidly cut Conflict Palm Oil from our food system.
COLLABORATION -
Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture and The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy announced a new partnership this week that seeks to harmonize on-farm sustainability metrics and drive greater collaboration between the two organizations. The collaboration will benefit crop producers, dairy farmers and the entire agricultural supply chain by creating a more consistent approach for measuring and advancing continuous improvement in the sustainability of dairy feed production.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Each year, Scandinavian think tank Sustainia highlights leading-edge sustainability solutions, technologies and practices from around the globe in its Sustainia100. Published today, this year’s list, which highlights standouts from more than 151 countries, points to a new development: sustainability alternatives are increasingly becoming the affordable and convenient choice.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
On Wednesday, over an intimate, invite-only lunch at SB ’15 San Diego, Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) screened the trailer for their documentary, KOMBIT: The Cooperative, scheduled for release in October 2015.KOMBIT means “pulling together” in Haitian Creole. Timberland says this is the perfect description of the partnership among local Haitians, as well as its work with them and SFA to rebuild the island nation’s environmental and economic landscape through small-scale farming.
PRESS RELEASE -
With an estimated 1.5 percent tree cover remaining, Haiti is one of the most severely deforested countries in the world. In January 2010, an earthquake devastated the people of Haiti and illuminated the ongoing degradation of the country’s natural environment. While short-term relief efforts were essential, sustainable changes to restore tree cover and agricultural production remain critical for the future of Haiti. The Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) is the culmination of a $1 million, five-year, innovative public/private partnership led by Timberland, delivering a long-term solution that empowers Haitians to play an active role in spurring economic development, improving agricultural practices, and supporting reforestation and environmental restoration.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Jeff Mendelsohn, moderator and founder of New Leaf Paper, opened up Tuesday’s SB ‘15 San Diego panel about the use of non-wood fiber with two questions that — from a consumer’s perspective — are questions we all should embrace and act on, now:
PRESS RELEASE -
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today announced a collaboration with Campbell Soup Company and its subsidiary, Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated, to improve water quality and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by optimizing fertilizer use and improving soil conservation in the company’s wheat sourcing areas.
WASTE NOT -
Organic matter produced during brewing and coffee roasting processes is becoming a farming and gardening staple as an effective, low-cost alternative to commercial fertilizer and feed for a growing contingent of farmers and gardeners in Maine, according to the Bangor Daily News.As more of the state’s ubiquitous microbreweries are finding ways to make their operations more sustainable, they’ve realized repurposing their spent grains as fertilizers eliminates waste, while simultaneously benefitting local farms and gardens.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Today, Walmart announced a commitment to improving farmed animal welfare across its global food supply chain with one of the most comprehensive animal welfare policies of its kind. The change in policy comes after six hidden-camera videos taken by animal welfare group Mercy For Animals (MFA) at Walmart pork suppliers across the country exposed extreme animal abuse.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
MillerCoors’ Trenton Brewery in Ohio will now also produce fish and animal feed.Thanks to a partnership with biotech company Nutrinsic, wastewater from MillerCoors’ beer-making process will now enter Nutrinsic’s sustainable protein production facility co-located at the brewery’s Water Reclamation Facility. The biotech company says the wastewater will become a feedstock for ProFloc™, a high-quality protein ingredient for use in fish and animal nutrition. ProFloc is produced using patented technology that upcycles nutrients that would otherwise be undervalued or discarded, making it a sustainable protein source for all types of aquatic and terrestrial animal feeds.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Beekeepers across the United States lost more than 40 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2014 to April 2015, according to the latest results of an annual nationwide survey led by a University of Maryland professor.While winter loss rates improved slightly compared to last year, summer losses and total annual losses were more severe. Commercial beekeepers were hit hardest by the high rate of summer losses, which surpassed winter losses for the first time in five years, intensifying concerns over the long-term trend of poor health in honey bee colonies.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
In its new position paper published today, Halting Deforestation and Achieving Sustainability, the Rainforest Alliance addresses the recent surge in deforestation-free pledges. Timed to coincide with an Innovation Forum event in Washington, DC on “How Business Can Tackle Deforestation,” the paper argues the deforestation-free trend is an exciting development, but needs definition, focus, and accountability to deliver lasting benefits for forests, people and the planet.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Barely a week in and April could very well shape up to be ‘Zero-Deforestation Month’ if the multi-sector momentum around addressing the issue continues. So far, we’ve seen a new commitment from Yum!
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Hershey Company announced on Tuesday that it will source enough certified and sustainable cocoa in 2016 to surpass the amount of cocoa required for the global production of four of its most popular chocolate brands: Hershey's, Kisses, Kit Kat and BrooksideThe chocolate company also has pledged that it will source enough certified and sustainable cocoa to add the global Reese’s brand and others to these first four brands in 2017.Reaching this responsible sourcing milestone was possible due to progress in sourcing cocoa from certified and sustainable cocoa farms, Hershey says.