A UK-based global consulting company in the food and beverage industry, Leatherhead Food Research, has published a brief ‘white paper’ discussing sustainability issues facing the food and beverage industry.

Key points in the white paper include:

• in the last five to ten years, there has been a dramatic shift in how food and drink companies are addressing sustainability issues. It has moved from being an initiative which sits to one side of the business in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or philanthropic strategies to being a main stream business consideration.
• many companies are beginning to realise that sustainability makes business sense, both from a financial point of view but also from the point of view of the longevity of their business
• key environmental initiatives that companies are involved in broadly fall into the following categories:
  • reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and management of carbon footprint
  • switching to the use of renewable energy
  • waste reduction
  • reformulation and recycling of packaging
  • reduction of water usage in manufacturing
• companies are becoming conscious of the need to understand the operations of their entire supply chain in order to mitigate any risks before they occur and to give them evidence for the good news stories about their products.
• the food and drink industry is a long way from the scenario where they are addressing sustainability in a ‘pre-competitive’ environment – such an environment would require companies to agree not to compete on a sustainability platform but to work together to achieve sustainability goals.

GallonDaily believes the white paper may be useful to executives in this industry sector. Our only quibble with it is that we believe that sustainability must become a more competitive issue if companies are to achieve meaningful goals and significant economic benefits.

The two page white paper, which links to a more detailed report priced at £720, is available at no cost by providing contact information at http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/smartlead/view/920567/3/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=AM9QfACJmmQg6%2FLlNOfj9F8OjqLNe83j