SUPPLY CHAIN -
Blockchain technology is quickly emerging as a vital tool in tackling critical environmental and social issues. IBM recently touted the technology’s potential address challenges along the global food supply chain and is working with partners to identify new areas where it can in positively impact food traceability.
WASTE NOT -
Food giants across the US and UK continue to forge forward on efforts to drive down food waste and end hunger, rolling out new initiatives that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goal to halve food waste by 2030. The announcements coincide with a new global resolution launched by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which calls on the private sector to halve food and agricultural losses by 2030 and work with suppliers and consumers to do the same.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Panera Bread has established itself as a champion of the ‘clean food’ movement, throwing its weight behind efforts to improve industry transparency and deliver ‘food as it should be.’ Building on its Kids Meal Promise, the restaurant chain has announced a new approach to kids food. Children can now choose almost any item on the Panera menu as a smaller sized entrée, resulting in more than 250 menu combinations.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
“Sell by,” “Use by,” “Display until” and “Best before” food labels intended to inform consumers about food quality and safety frequently come under fire for their lack of clarity and confusing terminology that contributes significantly to the colossal food waste problem — one that costs families up to $29 billion annually in the United States alone. However, little concrete action has been taken to address the problem.
PRESS RELEASE -
DuPont has released its 2017 Sustainability Report, highlighting progress toward its 2020 Sustainability Goals and ongoing engagement in areas reflected in the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as food security, environmental stewardship, and diversity and inclusion.
PRESS RELEASE -
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and the earthquake in Mexico, the PepsiCo Foundation quickly mobilized to provide support to communities in need as they begin the long road to recovery. The PepsiCo Foundation has provided a $1 million grant to Feeding America for assistance in Florida and the Southeast U.S. The Foundation is giving the American Red Cross and its partner national societies a $250,000 grant to aid recovery in the Caribbean and a $250,000 donation for relief work in Mexico. The Foundation has also provided $250,000 to source, package and distribute meals in the Miami area through its long-established Food for Good program, a purpose-driven business initiative that uses PepsiCo's expertise in taste, nutrition and distribution to tackle child hunger.
COLLABORATION -
Since 2009, Oakland, California startup Back to the Roots has been on a mission to "Undo Food" by reconnecting consumers (and kids) with what’s on their plates, and driving the food industry towards greater transparency and integrity.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Carlsberg Group, together with business partners and social organisations today celebrates the third annual Global Beer Responsibility Day (GBRD) - a worldwide effort to promote the responsible consumption of beer.
COLLABORATION -
Today, PepsiCo reported progress towards its ambitious Performance with Purpose 2025 Agenda sustainability goals, announced last year. The company improved performance against goals in each of the Agenda’s three focus areas – Products, Planet and People – while returning over $7 billion to shareholders.
WASTE NOT -
Spoiler Alert is a Boston-based software company that helps the world’s largest food businesses better manage unsold inventory. This week, the company released a new ebook, A Strategic Guide for Using Data to Drive Food Loss and Waste Reductions, intended to arm food manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and grocery retailers with the tools and strategies to develop data-driven food waste prevention and reduction programs. Topics featured include:
WASTE NOT -
One-third of the world’s food — approximately 1.3 billion tons — is lost or wasted, a fact that is spurring startups to seek out new solutions to keep food out of landfills and stopping waste at the source.
California-based distillery Misadventure & Co. is working to drive down food waste in a completely unexpected way — by transforming discarded Twinkies and other dump-destined baked goods into vodka.
PRESS RELEASE -
Many Sustainable Brands Corporate Members have been listed in this year's 2017 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Launched in 1999, the DJSI are a set of indices that track the financial performance of the top sustainability-driven companies worldwide, based on analysis of material economic, environmental and social factors.The World Index includes the largest 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index (DJGTSMI) and includes only the top 10% of these companies in terms of economic, environmental, and social criteria.
WASTE NOT -
Our office kitchen only has one microwave and I always get hungry at peak lunchtime. I place my Pyrex glass container of leftovers at the end of the microwave queue of different shapes, sizes and brands of glass containers, and wait my turn.
From Mason jars at weddings to glass water bottles at the gym and glass carafes for endlessly cold iced coffee, it’s clear that glass is being used in just about everything. Glass has so many benefits: It’s reusable, easy to clean, BPA free and sustainable. Yet, even with these benefits, glass recycling in the U.S is dismal.
PRESS RELEASE -
Aquaculture and the ‘Blue Revolution’ holds tremendous potential for helping our planet meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The importance for being sustainably responsible continues to increase in importance for both customers and consumers. However the topic of sustainability is broad and hard to quantify which is why there is a need for the seafood industry to follow a benchmarking methodology to define and compare “sustainable” and “responsible” practices.
WASTE NOT -
Europe’s largest home electronics manufacturer, Grundig, has renewed its commitment to reduce global food waste, launching the second phase of its Respect Food initiative with a manifesto film underlining the seriousness of the food waste problem. The announcement follows the release of new research revealing that 90 percent of consumers want to lead more sustainable lifestyles and reduce food waste, but lack the time and means to make the change happen.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The food industry is undergoing a major transformation, but while food companies often serve as the face of this so-called ‘food revolution,’ the source of some of the most significant changes isn’t the C-suite, but rather our farms.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The food industry has been abuzz with talk of traceability as of late, with the emergence of new technologies — such as Avery Dennison’s RFID tags and Sourcemap and Provenance’s new blockchain traceability tool — that are making it easier than ever for businesses to address inefficiencies and unsustainable and unethical practices along their supply chains.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
In response to changing consumer preferences for ‘cleaner,’ healthier products, food and beverage giant Coca-Cola is ramping up efforts to uncover new non-sugar sweeteners for its portfolio of beverages and snacks. But instead of heading to the lab, the company is outsourcing its R&D, turning to the public to come up with a naturally sourced, low-calorie sugar alternative that mimics the taste of sugar.
BUSINESS CASE -
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which dates back to World War II radar systems, is increasingly being used to track goods throughout complex global supply chains.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Overconsumption of added sugar is the latest issue to preoccupy the food industry. On the heels of the launch of KIND Healthy Snacks’ Fruit Bites, for which the brand filled New York City’s Times Square with over 45,000 pounds of sugar in a bid to draw attention to the 4.7 billion pounds of sugar consumed by children each year, Panera Bread has announced a new nutrition education scheme that will put the ‘sweet facts’ about its products right into the hands of consumers.