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FoodDrink Europe targets sustainability

FoodDrinkEurope has launched a report outlining its goals to move towards more sustainable food and drink production by 2030.

The report came following an event in Brussels yesterday featuring stakeholders such as Members of the European Parliament, UN representatives and key food industry players such as Nestle. 

FoodDrinkEurope’s ‘Environmental Sustainability Vision Towards 2030 ’ details three core areas of focus: sustainable sourcing, resource efficiency along the food chain and sustainable consumption and production.

Sustainable sourcing

Europe’s food and drink industry accounts for 70% of all EU agricultural produce, said FoodDrinkEurope, which showcased examples from companies that could help to promote sustainable sourcing and contribute towards food security.

The report praised Ferrero, General Mills, Mars, Nestlé and Unilever, which all pledged to source 100% certified sustainable palm oil by 2015. Mars and Ferrero have also committed to used only sustainable certified cocoa by 2020.

The report also lauded the development of harmonised assessment methods through the European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Round Table.

Energy

FoodDrinkEurope encouraged the industry to collaborate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Between 1999, food and drink manufacturers in Europe cut GHG emissions by 18%, while production value rose 29%.

The report endorsed using low carbon technologies, such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP). “The best way to provide heat is from a CHP plant as this provides maximum primary energy saving opportunities,” it said.

Kellogg is one large company using CHP. Its plant in Manchester, UK, has a 4.9 MWe CHP Plant that supplies 85% of the plant’s current steam demand and approximately 50% of electricity demand, which it claims reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 12% annually.

Alternate refrigerants

FoodDrinkEurope is also promoting refrigerant alternatives. “Some of the refrigerant gases commonly used by food and drink manufacturers, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), contribute to climate change if they escape to the atmosphere,” it said.

While no viable alternative is currently available, the EU trade body said that it supports a multi-stakeholder initiative by Coca-Cola, Unilever, McDonald’s and PepsiCo to find a solution.

Water use

The report estimated that the industry’s water use accounts for 1.8% of the European total. It encouraged employing tools to measure water use through a Life Cycle Analysis, but said the method was not ideal for communication with consumers.

Several FoodDrinkEurope companies are involved in developing a new ISO standard (14046) on water footprint based on a life-cycle approach which is expected to be completed by 2014.

Other initiatives

FoodDrinkEurope’s report also details ways manufacturers have converted waste into energy to power operations. Nestlé and Kraft for example have been recycling coffee grounds to power production processes, which has contributed 12% to Nestlé’s on-site renewable energy resources in plants in the UK, Germany and France.

FoodDrinkEurope also supports using biofuels for transport operations to limit the environmental impact. Nestlé, for example has been using liquid methane powered trucks in the UK.

European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik said: “It is also clear that consumers should be increasingly informed via modern communication channels, such as smart phones applications and social media.”

The French food and drink industry association (ANIA) has developed the smart phone app ProxiProduit, which allows consumers to scan barcodes and obtain environmental information such as GHG emissions, biodiversity and water use.

The report concluded that its ‘vision’ was not a benchmark for the industry as “no one-size fits all”, but it could give inspiration to companies to promote sustainable growth.

via FoodDrink Europe targets sustainability.

A more sustainable coffee begins with a more sustainable water use

Coffee is one of the world’s most valuable commodities, and global annual sales reach up to $70bn (£43bn). The small green bean that has its origins in Ethiopia has long been the brew of choice throughout Europe. Across the pond, office workers clutching towering cups of coffee are a routine morning sight throughout the US.

Even in places known for their tea culture, coffee has transformed social life. Coffee requires only two ingredients – ground roasted coffee beans and water – but in the coming years, the latter ingredient will vex companies that source and market the product.

Coffee is both a labour – and resource-intensive crop to grow. The Dutch NGO Water Footprint Network estimates that a standard European cup of coffee or espresso (125 ml) requires 140 litres of water – which is to say that one part of coffee consumes 1100 parts of water. Meanwhile, droughts in Brazil and Colombia, two of the world’s largest coffee producers, could spark price increases that, in the short term, may contribute to profits, but in the long term will force companies to develop programmes that ensure water conservation throughout their supply chains and especially at the source: farms.

Much of coffee’s water footprint results from the beans’ cultivation. To that end, NGOs such as Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade USA engage farmers across the globe to work together on reforestation projects. While “shade grown” coffee makes for fancy labelling, Rainforest Alliance’s work both preserves the watersheds that provide drinking water while preventing erosion. These programmes provide farmers modest financial returns that encourage them to plant more trees – and reverse the deforestation that resulted in part from the expansion of massive coffee plantations. Companies, like Kraft Foods, with its brands of coffee that includes Kenco, Gevalia, and Maxwell House, have promised to source more sustainable coffee certified by Rainforest Alliance and other third-party certification groups.

Companies that rely on coffee sales to boost their bottom line have responded in kind by becoming engaged at the source. Nestlé UK, for example, funds responsible farming practices in Ethiopia. Coffee farmers in the village of Hama, 310 miles south of Addis Ababa, for years struggled financially and faced declining yields even though the quality of their coffee beans was high. A Nestlé team realised one issue was a wasteful process that separated coffee beans from their pulp. The pulp was a potentially valuable source of compost for the farmers, but instead the farmers discharged it into the local river – where the pulp became a toxin that polluted local water supplies. A pulping machine from South America separated the lucrative bean from the pulp and provided farmers a source of compost, while slashing the ratio of litres of water to kilogram of coffee from 60-1 to 3-1.

Meanwhile, the global giant coffee retailer Starbucks has focused on its water performance within its stores. Three years ago the Seattle-based chain committed to a 25% reduction in water use throughout its stores by 2015. So far the company has reported a decrease in stores’ water consumption by 22%. Much of that decrease has resulted from discontinuing the use of dipper wells, fixtures that constantly stream water to clean utensils and eliminate food residues. That move alone cut Starbucks’ water consumption by about 100 gallons (378 litres) of water per day, per store.

Despite Starbucks’ success, however, companies must work on more efficient coffee sourcing processes throughout their supply chains. Pilot projects like those of Nestlé’s and of Rainforest Alliance’s are templates from which companies can learn if they want their future coffee businesses to not only be sustainable and profitable, but also survive as the global demand for water surges. (Source:Leon Kaye/GuardianUK – Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis)

Sustainability in Italy: what big retail players are doing.

Italians are virtuous, with a constantly growing attention towards the environment among young people. This is the picture that emerges from the research about Italian Sustainability and emerging lifestyles: 2,500 interviews, a sample of the Italian population aged between 15 and 74 years. Objective: To identify the most common habits among Italians to reduce their environmental impact.

“The majority of Italians, 50.9%, is sensitive to issues related to sustainability, 48.6% said they buy environmentally friendly products. There is a 36.4% claiming to not care and a 12.7% which is almost hostile to the subject”, “explains Monica Fabris, sociologist, currently president of the Episteme institute of research. “Sustainability is primarily a response to unconscious needs: fear, for example. And the international crisis in this sense was crucial because it demonstrated the unsustainability of many behaviors, limited resources and has spread the importance of having more conservative attitudes. ”

This explanation of Fabris, that the sensitivity of the Italian added: “We are not the most attentive of Europe, but we have a different kind of sustainability. In the research we have identified four types of “green” attitudes. There are “promoters of a shared involvment” (10.9%) who practice a sort of militant environmentalism, they think that everyone can do something and that sustainability is a value. Then there are the “those who judge” (10.4%), people who feel the need to see polluters and waste producers being legally punished. The vision of “eco-nostalgic” (14.8%) is about a return to the past and considering saving and reducing consumption real goals. Finally, there is “the vanguard of sustainable consumption” (63,9%) who have a key to modern, pragmatic and are willing to pay for more virtuous behaviours” This last category direct their purchases mainly to products of the big market, identified as guarantors of attitudes ecofriendly.

“All the big brands have sustainable programs. The projects are very varied and range from research to packaging more easily disposable and recyclable materials to reduce water consumption, the increasing presence of photovoltaic systems to supplement the energy needs of the factories to the use of new production technologies with low environmental impact ” says Ivo Ferrario, director of communications Centromarca, the association of the most important companies active in Italy brand. “Huge efforts are also undertaken to provide consumers with a better information, and to educate companies’employees thanks to specific activities regarding the environmental and sustainability issues.” In this direction is the Total Quality Day organized by Coca-Cola HBC Italy: each year, employees spend a day and a half attending comprehensive educational programs about safety and environment. “We talk about the correct control of raw materials, top quality production processes, optimization of cargo handling and a more effective waste management,” says Alessandro Magnoni, Communication and External Relations Manager. “About sustainability, last June we put into operation a large cogeneration plant in Nogales (Vr), which has already reduced CO2 emissions by 66% and increased energy efficiency up to 83%. But this is just the beginning, we plan to equip all eight Italian plants with photovoltaic systems, an operation that will avoid the emission of 11,500 tons of CO2. ”

Another international brand is following the same path, Heineken, which in 2010 presented a ten-year plan Brewing a better future. “The aim is to reduce CO2 emissions resulting from production processes by 40% and to fall by 25% on water consumption. All by 2020 “explains Alfredo Pratolongo, Communication and Institutional Affairs Manater at Heineken Italy. A strong commitment to social responsibility is also the mission of Procter & Gamble, a leader in consumer products which collects 300 brands: “We have halved the production of waste and CO2 in our plants and use alternative energy generated by wind and photovoltaic systems “says the head of Italy’s sustainability policies, Renato Sciarrillo. He adds: “For those of us who handles many products – we have 140 factories in 80 countries -logistics is crucial: we want to move 30% by rail transport. But that’s not all. “Concentrated” products ensure reductions in packaging up to 45% and the research is aiming at finding new materials to replace plastics. ”

About packaging, Nestlé has a dedicated team that study sizes and materials to reduce environmental impact. “In 2010, in Italy we have avoided the use of 147 tons of materials including metal, paper and plastic. Our objective is to optimize weight and volume, to use materials that you can recover properly, to develop materials from renewable sources and to support initiatives to recycle and recover energy from used packaging “explains Manuela Kron, Nestlé Group Italy Corporate Affairs manager. “To do this we have added a cogeneration and regeneration power plant in San Sisto (PG) and Moretta (CN), which allow us to cut the emission of around 13 000 tonnes of CO2 per year.”

Investments in the study of eco packaging and using alternative energy are also key points for L’Oréal. “We have been working on green chemistry for over ten years and thanks to our research we have recently discovered cosmetic effects of natural sugars. This year we launched a major center for predictive evaluation in Gerland (Lyon) where more than 99% of our ingredients are animal-free tested. Our packaging use a high percentage of recyclable material, we only use wood fiber from certified forests. The Garnier brand, for example, in 2012 will cut the weight of packaging by 15%, “says Giorgina Gallo, managing director of L’Oréal Italy. And the future? “The global goal for 2015 is a reduction of 50% in CO2 emissions, 50% of water consumption and waste generated per unit of finished product. In particular, our factory in Settimo Torinese, in the forefront on sustainability issues, is finalizing two projects that use alternative energy to become, by the end of 2012, a zero emissions plant. ”

Always in Italy, another brand which is very attentive to sustainability is Barilla. “Over 92% of our packaging is recyclable and now we want to exceed 95% in advance to target set for 2014. In recent years we have supplied cogeneration pasta plants, developed energy saving projects and replaced the electricity used in the production of Mulino Bianco products by Renewable Energy Certificate System certificates. This has reduced by about 10% the CO2 emissions for each unit of finished product, “explains Barilla’s Head of Communications and Media, Giuseppe Cocconi. This anticipates the future: “We want to reduce the impact of our products in a timely manner ensuring production processes throughout the supply chain.”

And as we have already informed you about, another worlwide known Italian company, Illy, have been awarded for its sustainable approach during the production processes, receiving the DNV Green Coffee Responsible Supply Chain Process certification. A certificate that emphasizes respect for the ecosystem through the use of recycled packaging and non-polluting practices.
In Danone are applying a very tight control system too. “In 2011 we will reach the goal of being the only company in this market segment to use thermoformed plastic, a new generation made much lighter and with less plastic, for the entire range of products ” explains Gianluca Mormino, director of Danone factory in Casale Cremasco . “This system also allows you to sell the pots which are welded together, avoiding the secondary packaging. And we are studying biodegradable packaging. ”

There is another sector which is very eco-friendly, and Philips is one of the brands involved. “We have to meet annual targets tied to packaging, water and energy savings,” explains Sergio Tonfi head of communications. “In 2010, the” green “products accounted for 38% of our total revenues, in 2007 were 20%: this is the result of three years long investment in innovation worth about 1 billion euros” (Source: Manuela Croci -Corriere.it)