Latin American Sustainable Food Summit: Traceability, Ingredients & Waste

Traceability, food waste and ingredients are focal themes of the 2nd Latin American edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit. For the first time, a Latin American summit will tackle food losses & waste, encourage traceability in supply chains and the use of sustainable food ingredients. Organized by Organic Monitor, the summit will be hosted in São Paulo on 29-30th June.

Keynote by Pedro Paulo Diniz from Fazenda da Toca Organicos

Pedro Paulo Diniz, the former formula one racing driver, will kick off the summit with a keynote on farming for sustainability. He is the founder and CEO of Fazenda da Toca Orgânicos, an organic food enterprise that operates a 2,300 hectare farm in the São Paulo state. With Brazil experiencing many social and environmental problems, Diniz will highlight some of the solutions provided by sustainable agriculture. Institute Toca has been set up as a learning center on his farm to encourage sustainable living and organic production.

Amarjit Sahota, founder and president of Organic Monitor, will give an update on the global market for organic products. Global sales have reached USD 80 billion, however Latin America has small revenue share. An update will be given on regional markets, as well as export openings for Brazilian and Latin American producers. Projections will be given on the future direction of the organic products market.

Food traceability session

The food traceability session will feature the growing array of sustainability schemes and verification tools. Luis Fernando Guedes Pinto from Imaflora will compare and contrast the various certification schemes used for traceability. What are the differences between the most popular standards, and what is the future outlook for traceability schemes? Ellen Lopez from Food Design will look at the close relationship between food safety and traceability in supply chains. Other papers will cover analytical tools for food authenticity, GM labeling outlook, whilst a case study will be given of a multinational providing transparency in its value chains.

Rio Sustainable Food at Olympics and Paralympics and other lighthouse projects

Brazil has pledged to make the Rio 2016 Olympics one of the most sustainable events in history. Richard Ellers Smith will give details of the ‘Rio Sustainable Food’ initiative which will provide sustainable & healthy food during the Olympics and Paralympic games. The initiative involves bringing together multiple stake-holders to set up supply chains for sustainable foods and beverages.

Another session will cover the growing palette of sustainable ingredients for food and beverage applications. Claudia Marcela Betancur from the Colombian organization Biointropic will show how novel ingredients are emerging from biodiverse crops. What are the challenges when sourcing from remote areas and working with indigenous communities? Pacari Chocolate will share its experiences in using sustainable ingredients to create innovative chocolates. The Ecuadorian company won 10 medals at the International Chocolate Awards in London last year. Co-founder Santiago Peralta will highlight the various ways the company is addressing its environmental and social footprint whilst creating award-winning chocolates.

Approaches to reduce food waste & losses will also be discussed. In Brazil, it is estimated that about 40,000 tons of food goes to trash each day whilst over a third of the population suffers from food insecurity. Gustavo Porpino from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) will look at ways of encouraging behavior change to reduce waste. Sealed Air will discuss the role of packaging to extend the life-time of food products at the retail and consumer level.

The agenda of the 2nd Latin American summit has been devised to help make the food industry more sustainable. With Brazil experiencing economic and social difficulties, the summit wants to carry the ‘sustainability torch’ during a difficult time. By focusing on food waste and losses, it aims to improve efficiency in the food industry and have a knock-on effect prices and distribution.

Watch the video of the 1rst Latin American Sustainable Food Summit 2015

The premier edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit Latin America took place in March 2014. About 140 senior executives from the food industry convened in São Paulo to debate key sustainability issues. There were calls to develop local markets for sustainable foods in the Latin American region, as well as prevent a proliferation in sustainability schemes. View the summit pics here.