Industry collaboration key to sustainability

The food industry needs to collaborate more to address sustainability challenges. This was one of the key messages of the European edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit. More than 160 senior executive convened in Amsterdam on 6 and 7 June to discuss sustainability in the food industry.

A number of speakers reiterated the challenges we face: 2 billion more people to feed in the next 40 years, dwindling resources and food supply swings caused by erratic weather conditions. Industry collaborations were earmarked as part of the solution to meet these challenges.

Several sessions covered existing partnerships, such as:

• FoodCycle, which works with retailers, celebrity chefs and unemployed youth to redirect food waste from landfill to create meals for the needy.
• Belgian retailer Delhaize’s partnership with WWF, which will see the supermarket convert all its fresh and frozen seafood to sustainable sources in 2013.
• Nexira and SOS Sahel’s partnership to sustainably source acacia gum, which will prevent desertification in Sub-Saharan Africa and have a positive social impact on local communities.

EcoInvest presented a paper on the importance of retaining sustainable farming communities. According to Karla Canavan, the urban portion of the global population has increased from less than 40% in 1990 to more than 50% at present - and is predicted to rise above 70% by 2050. “We need happy farmers,” Canavan said.

Bob Quinn, president of Kamut International, echoed Canavan’s sentiment. “Monoculture is leading the intensification of the food industry,” Quinn said, which he claims is having a detrimental impact on rural communities. Quinn’s company is encouraging the production of khorasan - a type of ancient wheat - in Montana.

In another paper, Ogilvy Earth urged green brands to target ‘middle greens’, who comprise two-thirds of consumers, rather than ‘dark greens’ who are already ‘the converted’. Simran Sethi told delegates that “people need to resonate with the message of sustainability” and encouraged brands to “re-frame the story and make it personal” to engage consumers in green behaviour.

The summit raised many questions about sustainability in the food industry: How can the food industry engage consumers to change their dietary habits and consumer more efficiently? How can the industry adopt sustainability schemes without adding to the proliferation of eco-labels? How can brands compete with conventional products on taste and quality while maintaining a premium because of ecological or ethical credentials?

These questions and more will be addressed in upcoming editions of the Sustainable Foods Summit:

• Sustainable Foods Summit North America: 22-23 January 2014, San Francisco
• Sustainable Foods Summit Latin America: 27-28 March 2014, São Paulo
• Sustainable Foods Summit Europe: 5-6 June 2014, Amsterdam