Health Impacts, Green Marketing & Food Ingredients Top of Summit Agenda

The upcoming Ecovia Sustainable Foods Summit will focus on health impacts, sustainable ingredients, and green marketing. For the tenth consecutive year, the European edition of this executive summit will be hosted in Amsterdam, on 7-8th June.

The summit begins by discussing some of the pressing sustainability issues facing the food industry. Amarjit Sahota, Founder and President of Ecovia Intelligence (event organiser), will kick off the summit with an update on eco-labels and the global sustainable foods market. Jacqui Macalister, Sustainability Innovation Manager of IKEA, will share the Swedish retailer’s sustainable food initiatives. IKEA Food - the world’s largest foodservice cafeteria and Sweden’s largest food exporter – is investing in a number of organic farming and ethical sourcing projects. Ingredients that it responsibly sources include berries, cocoa, vegetable oils, seafood, and coffee.

Circular economy

Kimo Van Dijk, Project Manager at the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform, will state the nutrient challenges faced by the farming and food industry. Using phosphorus as an example of agricultural inputs, he will call for the industry to move from linear to circular models. Guidance and pointers will be given to food and beverage firms on how they can prepare for a circular economy. Ashoka will give an introduction to social entrepreneurship and how it can be a force of positive change in society. Case studies will be given of social entrepreneurs who have made a sustainable difference to people’s lives.

Packiging alternatives and recycling

With plastic packaging coming under fire for its high environmental impact, alternative solutions will be explored. Andy Sweetman from Futamura will discuss the growing use of cellulose-based biopolymers in flexible packaging systems. Another speaker will show how ocean plastic can be recuperated to find new applications. The subject is further explored in the panel discussion: how can food and beverage firms develop products so that nutrients and packaging do not go into waste streams? How can the industry learn from nature so they are recycled and / or find new applications?

The Sustainable Ingredients session will feature raw materials with ecological / societal credentials. The growing use of food ingredients from side streams will be discussed, whilst other speakers will give an update on sustainable palm oil and natural flavourings. Norbert Schmitz from Global Risk Assessment Services will explain how food companies can develop sustainable and deforestation-free supply chains for their ingredients. Piet Haasen from the Sustainable Juice Covenant will show how the juice industry is mitigating supply chain risks and encouraging sustainable juice production. Another paper by Stefania Abbona from The Algae Factory will demonstrate how sustainable ingredients can create innovative products; the brand is using spirulina and hemp seeds in its novel chocolate range.

Sustainable Food Summit 2017. Photo © Ecovia

Dr.Good Food by Eosta

With rising incidence of diet-related illnesses, such as diabetes and obesity, the Health Impacts session explores the relationship between sustainable foods and health & wellness. Volkert Engelsman, founder of the leading organic fresh produce company EOSTA, will make the case for healthy food marketing. In partnership with European retailers and other stake-holders, Volkert has launched the “Dr. Good Food” campaign to raise awareness of the health and ecological benefits of fruits & vegetables.

Wieke van der Vossen from the Dutch Nutrition Center will show how mobile devices can provide health and sustainability indicators of food products. The organisation has recently launched a mobile app that compares the nutritional profile of products, highlighting those that are part of the Netherlands’s healthy eating programme: ‘Schijf van Vijf’ (Disc of Five). Orkla Foods will give insights into how it is developing plant- based proteins. In partnership with McDonald’s, the Nordic food company launched the McVegan burger a few months ago. Other speakers will discuss natural sweeteners, meat alternatives, and consumer behaviour towards health foods. Practical approaches to raise greater adoption rates of health foods will be discussed in the panel discussion.

Green Marketing

The Green Marketing session will showcase marketing best-practices for sustainable foods. How are brands and retailers successfully getting the green message across to consumers? What are novel approaches to distribution? What is the role of digital marketing and social media? What opportunities are provided by the millennials? Speakers in this session include George Gill (CEO of Vegan Society UK), Verena Wiederkehr (Senior Manager Corporate Outreach at ProVeg International), and Ed Silk (Head of Strategy at Bulletproof).

Sustainable Food Awards

Co-hosted alongside the European edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit is the premier Sustainable Food Awards. Taking place on the evening of 7th June 2018, the awards reception will give recognition to operators who are pushing the sustainability agenda in the food industry.

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 10th European edition will be hosted at the Mövenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Centre on 7-8th June 2018.