Road to sustainability management in food industries

Climate change acceleration becomes more and more visible in our day-to-day life, with extreme weather situations, threats to animal & plant biodiversity, crop yield reduction, and difficult access to safe water. 

As individuals, we feel the urgency to act, and as consumers, we expect the companies that provide us with goods and services to be at the forefront of these challenges and drastically reduce their impact. 

The food sector and its environmental impact

The food sector has a large footprint and, therefore, a high responsibility to improve environmental, social, and governance aspects in the entire food supply chain. The main causes of the impact of the food chain lie in the agricultural production phase and the packaging, but the emissions of these two activities are difficult to manage: 

• At the raw material production stage, the stakeholders are farmers, with a rather small structure, few resources, and they are spread out, which makes consolidated action difficult.
• Packaging is also a major pain point for the food sector with a double impact: the GHG emissions to produce the packaging and the environmental impact at the end-of-life with contamination of soil & water (microplastics) and threat to marine ecosystems.

Legislation is asking more and more for accountability

For a few years, legislation has started to evolve faster to make companies more accountable & transparent on their sustainability performance, mainly through non-financial reporting. In Europe, it has mainly been translated into non-financial reporting regulations: the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directives) and the SFDR (Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation).

There is also an increasing pressure on companies to be held legally accountable for the sustainability practices in their supply chain. A European regulation on Supply-Chain due diligence is being negotiated at the European Parliament: it will oblige large companies to identify & mitigate adverse impacts on human rights and the environment in their subsidiaries and at their business partners. This due diligence obligation shall encompass all upstream partners of the company, but will also include, in a limited manner, downstream stakeholders. 

How are food industries responding to these pressures? 

In this context, food companies have to proactively build a governance around Sustainability, identify their key impacts, set targets, plan actions, and implement a system to manage and report on actions and results. In the overwhelming number of referential standards, disclosure norms, it is complicated to identify where to start for companies that do not have the resources for dedicated, experienced CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) or ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) managers. 

At Mérieux NutriSciences, we help you figure it out! Get clarity on your regulatory landscape and what to expect, understand the standards/norms that apply to your sector, and let us guide you throughout your Sustainability journey – step by step. 

Our Sustainability experts have a long-lasting experience working in the food sector and understanding the multitude of challenges of this industry: dealing with your complex supply chains, co-manufacturers, pressure on price, clean label trends, brand protection & awareness, etc.  

Click here to know more about our dedicated Sustainability services.