COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
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 & CO-CREATION -
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.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
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:
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
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.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
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.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
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 GOVERNANCE -
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
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 & COMMUNICATIONS -
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.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Times Square has housed plenty of eye-catching sights over the years, but this might be the sweetest. In a bid to create buzz around its new product and the amount of added sugar consumed by children in the US each year — a whopping 4.7 billion pounds — KIND Healthy Snacks installed a towering pile of sugar — 45,485 pounds of it — in the heart of the highly trafficked square, stopping professionals and tourists alike in their tracks. The educational installation comes in the midst of back-to-school madness and visually represents how much added sugar kids in the US eat every 5 minutes.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Supermarkets across the globe are doing their part to future fit the food system by rolling out new initiatives and products that aim to tackle food waste and CO2 emissions.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Transparency hasn’t always been a strong point for the food industry, but a new partnership between HowGood, a research organization and in-store rating system that identifies industry leaders in the food system, and supermarket chain Giant Food could serve as a turning point for the sector. The relationship, which started as a test pilot in Giant stores in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan area, is expanding to all Giant stores due to positive customer feedback on the program.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The Natural Resources Defense Council and Ad Council today launched the second phase of their Save The Food national public service campaign, aimed at combatting America’s food waste problem from its largest source — consumers. In doing so, they seek to reduce the massive amount of money, water and energy that is wasted along with it.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Molson Coors Brewing Company has released its 2017 Our Beer Print report, announcing a bold, new sustainability strategy and goals to guide the company through 2025. This is the first sustainability report released since Molson Coors closed on the acquisition of MillerCoors from SABMiller in October 2016, making it one of the world’s largest global brewers.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Neighbourly, a social network connecting local projects and community needs with companies ready to help with funds and volunteers, has announced the expansion of its food surplus program to include non-food product donations. UK retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) is the first to sign onto the donation scheme.