COLLABORATION -
Last week, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) — whose membership includes hundreds of consumer brands from a range of industries around the world, including food giants Campbell Soup, Clif Bar, Hershey, Mars and Procter & Gamble — announced a new resolution to mitigate the roughly 40 percent of food wasted globally by agreeing to halve food waste within the operations of its 400 retailer and manufacturer members by 2025, and to support wider U
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
General Mills cereals has committed to removing artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources from the rest of its cereals in response to consumers’ changing preferences. The company says more than 60 percent of its cereals, including Cinnamon Toast Crunch and original Cheerios (which also went non-GMO last year), are already made without artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources, and have been that way for some time.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This week, SABMiller released its annual Sustainable Development Report, announcing progress to reduce water use and carbon emissions and achievement of significant financial savings associated with these environmental measures.
WASTE NOT -
As awareness has grown of the reprehensible amount of food we throw away in the western world (an estimated 40 percent), efforts to combat food waste have emerged from a variety of places along the food value chain, particularly at the retail level, and primarily in Europe: Last year, French supermarket chain Intermarché led the pack with its ingenious “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables” campaign, which aimed to prove to picky shoppers that less than perfect produce is still just as delicious and nutritious (and slightly less expensive).
LEADERSHIP -
On Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago, BASF is hosting a Science Symposium, gathering academics and thought leaders from a variety of disciplines to discuss the challenge of sustaining global food production.The event, “Sustainable Food Chain – From Field to Table,” is part of BASF’s yearlong program to celebrate its 150th anniversary, during which it will collaborate with multiple stakeholders to “co-create” solutions to global issues including smart energy, food and urban living.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Today, Ford announced progress on its commitment to developing autonomous vehicle technology, including innovations in wearable technology and collaborations with startups in Silicon Valley to make mobility solutions more accessible. The announcement, made at the Further with Ford trend conference, marks a transition from Ford’s investment in autonomous vehicle technology as a research effort to an advanced engineering program.
CLEANTECH -
Few things are more disruptive to a processing facility than losing power – especially if several weeks’ worth of work is lost each time it happens. Facing this risk helped drive Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. to embed sustainability into the way it does business.
COLLABORATION -
The Hershey Company today announced a partnership that will support its campaign to fight malnutrition in Ghana. As part of its Energize Learning program, the company is teaming up with the Ghana School Feeding Programme and current partner Project Peanut Butter to distribute a peanut-based protein supplement called Vivi to schoolchildren. The program aims to reach 50,000 children by 2016, and eventually expand to serve all children in Ghana’s school feeding program.
COLLABORATION -
This week, five major companies from the beverage and chemical industries announced a collaboration on sustainability initiatives in the shipping sector. FrieslandCampina, AB InBev, AkzoNobel, DSM and Huntsman will join forces under the BICEPS (Boosting Initiatives for Collaborative Emission-reduction with the Power of Shippers) network to create momentum for sustainability improvements in shipping.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved to ban the use of partially hydrogenated oils, the main dietary source of artificial trans fats, after determining they are not safe to use in food. This move is hardly surprising, given that in November of 2013, the FDA made this preliminary determination. The announcement likely means an increased amount of palm oil, a trans fat-free vegetable oil, in the American diet — and an opportunity for companies to source only palm oil that is deforestation and peat-free.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
On Thursday, Whole Foods Market today announced the name of its new streamlined, value-focused brand of stores: 365 by Whole Foods Market. Slated to begin opening in 2016, the new stores promise lower prices on natural and organic products that meet Whole Foods’ existing quality standards.Jeff Turnas, a 20-year Whole Foods Market veteran, will serve as president of 365 by Whole Foods Market and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Austin.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
A collaborative approach to responsible sourcing, packaging and the circular economy has taken DIY giant Kingfisher to new heights in the second year of its Net Positive sustainability plan.On Wednesday, the parent company of B&Q, Screwfix and other European home-improvement brands released its annual Net Positive Report, updating stakeholders on its sustainability ambition to transform the business to have a restorative impact on the environment.
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.
LEADERSHIP -
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) published its tenth annual Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability report this week, in which it set its most ambitious environmental and social targets to date.The new commitments include:
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Daily Table, a nonprofit grocery store selling surplus and slightly aging food, has finally opened its doors in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.The creation of former Trader Joe’s president Doug Rauch, the store aims to bring affordable nutrition to underserved populations in cities. Its products are inexpensive compared to other grocery stores – a dozen eggs for 99 cents, 49 cents a pound for potatoes, and 29 cents a pound for bananas – because most of the stock is donated from wholesalers and markets.
PRESS RELEASE -
MillerCoors, an American brewer with more than 450 years of combined heritage, today announced that its Milwaukee Brewery and corporate offices are landfill-free. The brewer eliminated 65 tons of waste that was previously sent to landfill each month from its brewery and corporate offices, logging its first landfill-free month at the brewery in December 2014. This marks MillerCoors first complete campus – brewery plus corporate offices – to achieve landfill-free operations and the seventh of the company's eight major breweries to reach this milestone. MillerCoors details its waste reduction successes and other sustainability achievements in the company's 2015 Sustainability Report, which was released today.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Oakland-based food startup Back to the Roots (BTTR) today announced the close of its first round of funding, raising $2 million to accelerate its mission to undo food and build the “new Kraft Foods.”
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Having already eliminated genetically engineered ingredients and removed carnitas from the menu in some locations rather than serve pork that doesn’t meet its animal-welfare standards, Chipotle Mexican Grill is once again walking its “Food with Integrity” talk — the burrito chain has announced it will expand benefits formerly reserved for salaried workers, including full tuition reimbursements, sick pay and paid vacations, to all employees on July 1, according to
PRESS RELEASE -
To coincide with World Ocean Day on June 8th 2015, Mars, Incorporated will be embarking on the next phase of a coral reef restoration project on one of the largest single coral reef rehabilitation projects anywhere in the world. Since 2007, Mars Symbioscience has been working to restore the coral reef infrastructure on the island of Pulau Badi in Indonesia, at the heart of the Coral Triangle. This week, over 1200 square meters of new coral reef will be installed to expand the already blossoming rejuvenated reef - which stretches almost 1km along the island reef crest. Following this work, the total area of new coral installed will be more than 8000 square meters - effectively rehabilitating over 2 hectares of coral habitat.
WASTE NOT -
UK grocery giant Tesco has announced a new scheme to mitigate food waste, where surplus food from its stores is redistributed to people in need.Tesco has partnered with UK food redistribution charity FareShare and Irish social enterprise FoodCloud to trial the FareShare FoodCloud app in the UK. Tesco has already been working in different areas of the supply chain to tackle food waste — including through its existing partnership with FareShare — and this new scheme will mean eliminating the need to throw away food in Tesco stores that could otherwise be eaten.