Supply chain News and trends

Through its new partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, the dairy giant aims to implement regenerative agriculture practices and influence governments to adopt more climate-friendly policies.

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Credibility and visibility in the procurement process are no easy feats. Challenges abound, and no CPG company wants to see their brand’s name in the newspaper because their supplier has done something wrong. 

This was the motivation behind cheese-manufacturing company Bel Brands USA’s decision to align with automated sourcing platform Bid Ops, Jean-Michel dos Remedios, head of procurement, sourcing, and supplier development at Bel Brands, tells CGT. 

Bel Brands USA — maker of cheeses Babybel, The Laughing Cow, Boursin, and more — was looking to solve a major problem. With $285 million in direct and indirect material spend across 3,500 suppliers, they wanted to cut costs and increase their sourcing efficiency, which was getting too difficult to manage.

“We started to use Bid Ops as a resourcing tool to go faster on refuse and reuse, and sourcing events,” says dos Remedios, who did not see the value in previous sourcing investments due to their lack of visibility.

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Climate change has been getting a lot of attention recently, and for good reason. The latest science shows the risk is manifesting faster and it’s not just fires and floods causing problems. A changing climate will gradually and increasingly impact us all. Science also tells us now is the time to take action for future generations and to ensure business resilience.

This is why Treasury Wine Estates has set an ambitious target of net zero emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030. With 70% of these emissions generated from electricity, we have our sights on achieving 100% renewable electricity across our entire operations by 2024. 

Targets are important for transparency and accountability. But how you achieve those goals is just as valuable.

As an industry with a significant agricultural footprint, there are three key areas wine producers can act on together to support the transition to a low-carbon future.

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Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has ramped up its sustainability journey by pledging to eliminate deforestation and converting to native vegetation from its supply chain by the end of 2025.
An important enabler of the group’s biodiversity conservation and decarbonisation targets, the commitment is in continuity with initiatives like the creation of a dedicated Carbon Solutions Platform.

The merchant and processor of agricultural goods also recently introduced product-specific sustainability codes and policies to conserve forests and native vegetation for commodities considered to be higher risk in relation to deforestation – namely, palm oil, coffee and soy.

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Coca-Cola Africa and its bottling partners recently announced the launch of JAMII, the new Africa-focused sustainability platform. The platform houses the Company’s existing and new sustainability initiatives. Through this signature platform, Coca-Cola hopes to attract like-minded partners to help accelerate on-the-ground impact of its initiatives. 

The Coca-Cola Company has focused on its three-pronged water strategy- Reduce, Replenish and Reuse. The new platform will build and expand on the past accomplishments in three areas; water stewardship, the economic empowerment of women and youth and waste management. This will be delivered together with bottling partners, system employees, and several NGO partners. 

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Only one in 10 of the world’s largest food companies are committed to promoting healthy and sustainable diets, according to new research.

A report, called Fixing the Business of Food, analysed the world’s 100 largest food companies to reveal the “progress and gaps in sustainability strategies across the agri-food sector”.

The report was conducted by the Barilla Foundation, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and Santa Chiara Lab, University of Siena (SCL).

The companies were assessed against its ‘Four Pillar Framework’, which was developed in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Now, more than ever, the importance of sustainability within the food and beverage industry has taken centre stage. As consumers’ awareness surrounding the impacts of food production and consumption grows, and the climate crisis continues to be a notable threat, businesses, manufacturers and retailers are coming under increased scrutiny to re-evaluate their business models to make their sustainability profile better, greener and more efficient. 

From all stages of the food and beverage supply chain, efforts are being made by companies to reduce their carbon footprint. FoodBev Media explores three sustainability trends that it expects to witness in 2021. 

 

1) packaging

2) Food waste

3) Supply chain

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Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) has announced that it has established a sustainability-linked supply chain finance programme in association with Rabobank.

Rabobank will provide funding to the programme, with other banks expected to participate and expand the facility over time, CCEP added.

CCEP’s vice-president of procurement, Ralf Peters, said, “We know how crucial it is that we work together with our suppliers to decarbonise our businesses, and are committed to providing the support and solutions they need to help them reduce emissions, aligned with our own sustainability goals.

“Our new supply chain finance programme is another important step that will help us to take collective action – by implementing positive and impactful change and driving continuous sustainability improvements.”

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Growing consumer awareness and increased government initiatives around sustainability and climate change are adding pressure on industries to adopt sustainable practices. This is particularly true of the food and beverages (F&B) sector where food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Left unchecked, this figure will only rise due to the combined impact of a rising population and growth of the middle class – wealthier people consume more resource-intensive, animal-based foods. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2050, the demand for food will be 60 per cent greater than it is today.

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Processes underpin everything a company does, from product conception to production, distribution and fulfilment. By making them more efficient, we can make the world more sustainable. But many of these processes have been developed in a piecemeal fashion, so they are incredibly inefficient. One third of all food produced globally, for example, is lost or wasted every year, and 80 per cent of that waste is caused by poorly executed processes such as supply chain inefficiencies, late deliveries and inaccurate planning. This food waste matters beyond simple nutrition. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the resources needed to produce the food that then becomes lost or wasted has a carbon footprint of about 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2, making food waste the world’s third-biggest carbon emitter behind China and the United States.

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Aligning with the growing demand for meat in Asia, DSM has joined forces with Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) Thailand to measure the impact of animal-derived protein production with the help of Sustell, a data-driven sustainability service.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding in Bangkok regarding the implementation of the Intelligent Sustainability Service - Sustell, proprietary of DSM.

The tool provides guidance and solutions at farm level on how to improve sustainability profitably.  

“Animal farming companies benefit from being able to fully understand their environmental footprint, allowing them to take ownership of it and make the necessary improvements which, depending on the company, is needed for them to meet their commitments to their customers, till the end consumer,” Carlos Saviani, global sustainability and business solutions lead tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

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Food wholesaler and retailer SpartanNash announced Thursday it is reducing the company’s carbon footprint in 2022 through an annual fleet mileage decrease in excess of 7 million miles, representing 10% of total fleet mileage. According to the company, this network optimization eliminates nearly 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and provides faster, fresher and more cost-effective deliveries for SpartanNash’s food retailer customers.

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Bombay Sapphire and Starbucks are working with farmers to ensure complete supply chain sustainability for their gin and coffee, respectively.

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