The food and drink industry has a significant impact on the planet, from farm to plate. With growing consumer awareness and demand for sustainable practices, businesses in this sector face the complex challenge of reducing their environmental footprint and creating a more responsible food system.
Our recent Breakfast Briefing brought together sustainability leaders in the food and drink community to discuss how to cultivate greater impact throughout the value chain. Our Cofounder and Chief Impact Officer, Amy Bourbeau, shared her expertise, alongside Sustainability Consultant, Olivia Jennings, and guest speakers: Gordon Ker, Founder of Blacklock, Charlotte Jost, Head of Impact and Sustainability at Lily’s Kitchen, and Rosanna Bluett, Food Education Manager at The Jamie Oliver Group.
5 key takeaways from the session:
- Holistic Sustainability: The discussion emphasised the importance of integrating sustainability into every aspect of the food and drink value chain, from sourcing ingredients and manufacturing processes to packaging and consumer engagement.
- Collaboration and Innovation: Collaboration across the industry, from farmers to retailers, is crucial for driving systemic change. Innovation in areas like regenerative agriculture, alternative packaging solutions, and food waste reduction are key to creating a more sustainable food system.
- Consumer Engagement: Effectively communicating sustainability efforts and empowering consumers to make informed choices are essential for driving positive change. Transparency, authenticity, and storytelling play a vital role in building trust and engaging consumers in the sustainability journey.
- Leadership and Action: Businesses need to take a proactive approach to sustainability, setting ambitious goals, measuring their impact, and continuously improving their practices. Leadership commitment and employee engagement are crucial for driving meaningful change.
Audience Q&A
- Why is it called a ‘double’ materiality assessment? A materiality assessment is all about understanding the negative impact your business is contributing to, and where it can help the world, and prioritising the biggest impacts. You can either assess impact materiality, financial materiality, or both. In the case when you look at both, this is called a double materiality assessment.
- Impact materiality is the impact their businesses have or are likely to have on sustainability matters (e.g. carbon emissions, workforce diversity, respect for human rights)
- Financial materiality is the impact that sustainability matters have or are likely to have on the organisation’s finances (e.g. cash flows, risk, access to funding)
- Where does a carbon footprint analysis fit in here? As part of a double materiality or within B Corp work? Calculating your carbon footprint is one of the many practical steps which the B Corp framework covers, so we recommend at the stage of engaging with B Corp that every business conducts their carbon footprint baseline if not already. Then, if you build a plan to reduce this footprint and set Net Zero targets, that can earn you more points in the B Corp Impact Assessment.
- Can you share the source of your statistics on the trend in recognition of B-Corp in the UK? The statistics that we shared on B Corp recognition can be found in the following:
- Can you share more details on the generational transfer point, specifically the data sources and drivers? Of course! Here are links to the sources of data referenced regarding generational shifts and their influence in consumer preference for sustainability
Panelist Q&A
- Considering current economic situations, what are your thoughts on how companies/industries will prioritise their sustainability actions? Will they put it back to low priority or pause their actions? How should they plan to prioritise?
- Rosanna Bluett: There are of course always discussions around prioritisation of projects or resources but I think the current economic situation and statistics around food waste and food poverty show that we should prioritise our social impact and specifically Food Education work more than ever. As a business our social impact work is embedded within our DNA and not an optional extra.
- Charlotte Jost: As a B Corp, we have amended our articles of association and have a legal responsibility to prioritise the planet and people alongside profit. Despite economic challenges that every business face I think the B Corp community is proof that you can always be a responsible business even in very challenging times. It is always a balance, but as consumers become more and more aware of the climate challenges we now face, the demand for responsible businesses is now rapidly growing. There will always be examples of businesses who do de-prioritise when faced with tough decisions to make but ultimately it comes down to making the ‘right’ decision, as opposed to the traditional way businesses have always operated making the best decision for shareholders.
- To what extent have the panellists’ businesses adopted a circular economy? Do they have any approaches they can share? And what were the main challenges/barriers?
- Rosanna Bluett: At Jamie Oliver we have introduced a circular economy. A percentage of profits from all areas of the business, (restaurants, books, tv, etc) are committed to funding our Ministry of Food work. This decision has been a really positive one, not only for the sustainability of our social impact work but also for engaging the wider business in our impact work. Every part of the business knows what they are working towards and contributing to. We also offer volunteering opportunities to staff at Ministry of Food projects and we find that our social impact work is one of the reasons many people want to work for Jamie Oliver.
- Charlotte Jost: We are currently in the process of building out our sustainability strategy which was launched earlier this year. Eliminating as much waste as possible regarding both our products and in our supply chain is a key area of focus. We are also starting to build a packaging strategy based on our carbon footprint and will be investigating if incorporating recycled materials into our products is something we can do. I know we will face barriers here as it will depend how much recycled material is available as well as the impact the change in material will have on our product but we need to understand more and see how we can improve. Lastly we are also working on a set of responsible sourcing principles for our key ingredients we use, both understanding the impact they have on nature and how we can focus more on regenerative practices.
- What type of businesses are The Jamie Oliver Group looking to partner with to help you deliver that amazing 1m people taught to cook campaign – can food brands help/get involved or food festivals?
- Rosanna Bluett: We work with a range of partners to deliver on our food education plans whether that is schools themselves, delivery partners such as local authorities & charities or brands and organisations that may want to help us fund places for families in areas of deprivation or support schools with ingredients etc. We love partnership work so we are always open to conversations and ideas.
- In your view, are there enough farmers in the UK adopting a regenerative model, to allow more restaurant businesses to integrate higher welfare/quality meat products into their menus?
- It would be great to know more and continue this discussion is there a way to get in touch? The best way to get in touch is through LinkedIn:
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