SFS Europe: Future direction for sustainable sourcing

Sustainable sourcing has become fashionable in the food industry, with a growing number of companies making such commitments. The future direction of sustainable sourcing will be debated at the Sustainable Foods Summits. The 8th European edition will be hosted at the Mövenpick hotel in Amsterdam on 9-10th June 2016.

Representatives from leading sustainability labels and organisations, such as Fairtrade International, IFOAM, Rainforest Alliance, UEBT, Proterra Foundation, Danube Soya, IBD, Sustainable Rice Platform, ISCC, Ecocert, MSC, ICEA, etc. will be participating, as well as international food companies: Barilla, Unilever, Mondelez Foods, Friesland Campina, etc.

Increasing number of sustainability schemes

As will be shown at the Sustainable Foods Summit, other sustainable sourcing programmes are gaining traction because of traceability. The Non-GMO Project Verified scheme is the fastest growing in North America because of consumer opposition to genetically modified crops. The market for certified products has grown from nothing to US $16 billion within 7 years. In Europe, sustainability schemes such as Danube Soya and ProTerra are being adopted by companies wanting to verify their supply chains as GMO- free.

A recent development is the increasing number of sustainability schemes for single ingredients. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was initially launched to halt deforestation in South-East Asia. By highlighting the opaqueness of global supply chains, the RSPO has encouraged related schemes for sustainable soya and beef. Backed by the United Nations, the Sustainable Rice Platform was launched in October 2015 as the first sustainability standard for rice. Similar standards now exist for sustainable sugar, vanilla, and related ingredients.

20% of all coffee is now sourced according to some sustainability scheme

Coffee, the most traded agricultural commodity, has the highest market share. It is estimated that almost 20% of all coffee is now sourced according to some sustainability scheme. Apart from adopting third party labelling schemes, companies like Nestlé and Starbucks have developed their own sourcing programmes. Almost all of Starbucks coffee is now ethically sourced, most according to its CAFÉ (Coffee and Farm Equity) scheme, totalling over 0.2 million tonnes of coffee beans per year.

The market share of sustainable cocoa and tea is also rising. The Fairtrade mark is highly visible on confectionary products containing fairtrade cocoa, whilst the ’green frog’ displays Rainforest Alliance-certified tea. New initiatives, such as the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) standard for sustainable herbal teas, are also becoming popular.

A counter trend is the growing number of companies developing their own sustainable sourcing programmes. The international pasta company Barilla introduced its sustainable durum wheat programme in 2009. Mondelez Foods has launched a similar initiative for sustainable wheat under its Harmony programme. Over 75% of the company’s biscuits in Western Europe are now made from sustainable wheat. Sustainable sourcing is also becoming common for other food sectors; for instance, Friesland Campina has implemented sustainable dairy farming to reduce the environmental impact of livestock products.

The way forward for sustainable sourcing

Such developments raise questions about the way forward for sustainable sourcing. Will we see an ever-rising number of sustainability labels for agricultural commodities? Or, will we see more in-house sustainable sourcing programmes like those introduced by Starbucks and Barilla? The former gives greater credibility to sustainability programmes, whilst the latter maybe more pragmatic for companies. Whatever the way forward, sustainable sourcing will become a permanent fixture in the food industry.

More information is available from Sustainable Foods Summit Europe

About the Sustainable Foods Summit

Organised by Organic Monitor, 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 2nd Latin American edition will be hosted at the Pestana São Paulo on 29-30th June 2016.

About Organic Monitor

Organic Monitor is a specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on the global organic & related product industries. Since 2001, Organic Monitor has been providing a range of business services to operators in high-growth ethical & sustainable industries.The services include market research publications, business & technical consulting, seminars & workshops, and sustainability summits.