Supply Chain Marketing & Communications

Tractor Beverage Co Furthers Commitment to Transparency with Organic Impact Tracker

Tractor becomes the first beverage brand to track and disclose impact data about its ingredients — as 7 in 10 consumers express interest in how their beverage choices impact the planet.

Published 1 year ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: Tractor Beverage Co

Today, Tractor Beverage Company launches its Organic Impact Tracker — a sustainability impact tracker for its products and ingredients — in partnership with sustainability research company HowGood.

Founded in 2015 with a mission to create better beverages for all, Tractor Beverage Company is the first and only certified organic, non-GMO full-line beverage solution for foodservice. With its dedication to regenerative agriculture; organic farming; and unique, fruit-and-herb-based flavor combinations, the Idaho-based drink brand is creating a new bar for the soft drink lineup at some of the country’s largest foodservice accounts. The company’s vision is to use its beverage platform to expand organic farm practices — and, in turn, lead the way to a more sustainable and flourishing future for restaurants, consumers and farmers.

With the release of its Organic Impact Tracker, Tractor becomes the first beverage brand to track and disclose impact data about its ingredients — supporting its commitment to transparency and sustainable sourcing and responding to consumer demand for clean ingredients and environmental responsibility.

According to a 2023 online survey of 1,093 US adults conducted for HowGood by an independent survey-research firm, 63 percent of consumers are concerned about synthetic pesticides in the food supply, and 69 percent of consumers are interested in seeing how their beverage choice has an impact on the planet. The Organic Impact Tracker uses five key metrics to measure the benefits of an organic vs a conventional beverage: synthetic pesticides avoided, organic land supported, carbon emissions avoided, water saved, and soil health improved.

While four of the key metrics are proprietary to HowGood, synthetic pesticides avoided is Tractor’s proprietary algorithm designed to determine the total amount of conventional pesticides offset by using organically grown ingredients to produce its certified organic, non-GMO beverages. Tractor has effectively eliminated 35 tons of synthetic pesticides from the food system since 2020 as a result of sourcing organic ingredients, with a goal to eliminate 1,034 tons by 2033.

“While Tractor is working to make better-for-you craft beverages accessible to all, we are equally dedicated to supporting farming practices that benefit the environment,” said Tractor co-founder Travis Potter. “We partnered with the best scientists and data analysts in the business to develop a tool that will allow us to measure what matters to us most. Our intent is to encourage farming practices that prevent harmful pesticides from entering the food system, degrading land and contaminating water by making this data widely available to the food and beverage industry.”

The Organic Impact Tracker adds to the growing arsenal of tools — including carbon labels from brands such as Just Salad, Quorn and Strong Roots; Chipotle’s Real Foodprint app; and WRI’s Cool Food Meals certification, which can now be found at Panera and Nestlé foodservice locations nationwide — allowing conscientious consumers to understand the environmental impact of their food choices.

Metrics for the Organic Impact Tracker are provided by HowGood, an independent research company and SaaS platform with the world’s largest food ingredient sustainability database — which in 2021, the company augmented with regenerative agriculture metrics. HowGood aggregates information from Kerry, a world leader in taste and nutrition. To develop the Organic Impact Tracker, HowGood worked closely with Kerry to evaluate ingredients from 25 beverages in Tractor’s portfolio. The proprietary new metric for synthetic pesticides avoided was developed by Dr. Stephanie Bledsoe, Doctor of Plant Medicine and consulting agronomist for Tractor.

"We're excited to partner with Tractor on such industry-leading work to quantify and communicate their commitment to responsibly-grown ingredients," said João Rafael Brites, Director of Growth and Innovation at HowGood. "Our impact modeling system assesses each ingredient used by Tractor Beverages, pulling from our database of over 600 data sources and 33,000 ingredients, to help their customers fully understand the positive impact of choosing a Tractor beverage and play a part in transforming the beverage industry as a whole."

The Organic Impact Tracker will debut this week at Natural Products Expo West 2023. Experts from Tractor Beverage Company and HowGood, as well as Tractor pouring partners Chipotle and PLNT Burger, will present on a panel discussing how the food and beverage industry can use data-backed claims to communicate sustainability at 1:00pm PST on Friday, March 10.