Ecovia: Latin American Summit tackles food fraud & ethical sourcing

The Latin American edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit will focus on food fraud, ethical sourcing, and sustainable ingredients. Organized by Ecovia Intelligence (formerly Organic Monitor), the executive summit will take place in São Paulo on 18-20th September.

The meat scandal in Brazil has highlighted the vulnerabilities in global food supply chains. Hosted for the first time in Latin America, the Food Fraud & Authenticity workshop will discuss approaches to mitigate food fraud and safety risks. It is estimated that one in ten foods are adulterated or mislabeled, bringing economic, environmental, as well as health risks. The half-day workshop will give an overview of analytical tools to detect food fraud, as well as guidance to food and ingredient firms on how to improve integrity of supply chains.

Hot spot Brazil: deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

After climate change, biodiversity loss has been described as the greatest environmental challenge faced by the planet. Brazil is a hot spot because of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. A dedicated session on ethical sourcing & biodiversity will look at how the food industry can play its part by sustainable sourcing of ingredients. Alan Bojanic, Brazil Representative of FAO (United Nations), will make the case for sustainable agriculture and its role in halting biodiversity loss. The legal professional Anita Pissolito Campos will give an update on Brazilian biodiversity regulations and their implications to the food industry. Case studies will be given of companies setting up ethical sourcing projects that encourage biodiversity in Latin America.

The growing array of sustainable ingredients for food & beverages will also be featured. Mariana Avino from Naturex will discuss the possibilities provided by natural colors and related ingredients. Givaudan will give an update on natural flavourings for sustainability. Other speakers will cover ancient grains, sustainable vegetable oils, new ingredients from side streams, and the advent of clean label ingredients.

Update on the Brazilian market for organic foods

Leading Brazilian organizations will give their marketing experiences with sustainable foods. Ming Liu, Executive Director of Organis, will give an update on the Brazilian market for organic foods. Its recent research shows that 15% of Brazilians are now regular buyers of organic products, however distribution remains a major hurdle. Ricardo Cruz, founder of Nação Verde, will give his experiences in retailing and marketing organic & health foods. The supermarket chain Carrefour will also give its retailing perspectives. Details will be given of its sourcing programs and sustainability initiatives.
Helio Mattar, President of Akatu Institute, will discuss how to encourage sustainable food purchases and responsible consumption.

An update will also be given on environmental impacts. Intertek will explain how sustainability metrics can be taken for food and beverage products. The Chilean company Tresmontes Lucchetti will give insights into how it has developed carbon neutral juices, whilst WWF will show how companies can address their water impacts. Cristiani Viera, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Nestlé, will share the company’s approach to reduce impacts.

The program of this Sustainable Foods Summit has been designed to tackle some of the pressing sustainability issues facing the Latin American food industry. Comments Amarjit Sahota, Founder and President of Ecovia Intelligence (organizer): “Brazil and Latin America are now established as leading producers and exporters of food products. By tackling food fraud and biodiversity loss, we want to ensure the country and wider region do not miss out on the sustainable food wave.”

About the Sustainable Foods Summit

The aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues in a high level forum. The Latin American edition will be hosted at the Pestana hotel in São Paulo on 18-20th September 2017. Other editions will take place in Asia-Pacific (Singapore, 28-29 November 2017), and North America (San Francisco, January 2018). More information is available from www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

About Ecovia Intelligence

Ecovia Intelligence (formerly known as Organic Monitor) is a specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on global ethical product industries. Since 2001, we have been encouraging sustainable development via our services portfolio: market research publications, business & sustainability consulting, technical research, seminars & workshops, and sustainability summits.