SUPPLY CHAIN -
B Lab has updated its B Impact Assessment guidance and standards to align with the IDH Living Wage Roadmap — highlighting more companies’ work on this front will illustrate the feasibility of providing living wages globally.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Through its ongoing research and growing product offerings, WellVine aims to become the world’s premier source of plant-based nutrition and illustrate how
upcycling can not only reduce food waste but demonstrate the highest and best use of a remarkable global food source.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
To deliver the rapid decarbonisation and conservation we need, and to enable communities to grow in a sustainable way, we have to catalyse new finance for good — and we need to maximise that impact, so we know how much good is achieved and how we can improve.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
“Our alternative chocolate is saying that this industry can function in a different way — and it doesn’t have to be stuck doing things it has been doing for 60 years, making billions of dollars a year off the hard work of farmers in West Africa.” — WNWN co-founder Johnny Drain
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
New report finds that with 25% of global GHG emissions caused by the food value chain, the shift to alternative proteins may be the most capital-efficient and high-impact solution to addressing the climate crisis — and over 30% of consumers are ready to make the switch.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The three-year-old maker of snacks, coffee and other ethically sourced foods is aiming to show that brands can source from regenerative ag systems; but it will require a real commitment to
working with rural communities who, for too long, have been left behind by the modern food system.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
For too long, investors have lacked the data and analytics to make well-informed investment decisions around the financial risks of water impacts. That is about to change.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
By teaming up with retail leader Walmart, San Francisco-based Plenty is set to supply California (for starters) with healthy, sustainable food at an affordable price, using only 1% of the land needed for traditional farming.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The heat is on — from Greenpeace protesting Cannes to concerned citizens and legislative pressure — for advertisers to make their work count for more than selling more products to the Western world. Here are six key takeaways from this year’s Cannes Lions, and how your campaigns can be and do better.
REDEFINING SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD FOR THE FUTURE -
As anyone who works on sustainable supply chains knows, getting transparency and/or certification on the final pieces can often be the most difficult. Bumble
Bee’s goals will require ensuring better practices around catch reporting and verification of data, and working with and training consultants and vessel operators.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The meat sector in its current form is unsustainable; yet so is completely replacing the use of animals as a food technology. For the biggest and fastest environmental impact, we must address the way we grow our food. More sustainable models will involve coexistence between traditional and alternative production methods.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
It remains to be seen whether the SEC’s proposed climate-disclosure rules will go into effect; but with the EU bringing in sustainable textile regulations and states passing laws on supply chain due diligence, increased scrutiny over the climate impacts of brands and retailers will continue to grow.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
R&D is the engine room of all businesses, not just tech
companies — playing an instrumental role in generating the ideas that will transform our food system in a way that can sustain both people and planet.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The company — committed to sustainable agriculture and a truly inclusive approach for creating economic opportunity for the people of Boone County, West Virginia — has been growing lavender and raising bees on reclaimed coal mine soil since 2019.
WALKING THE TALK -
Investors can use the guide to engage companies by emphasizing the importance of disclosing their full-scope GHG emissions and setting 1.5°C emissions-reduction targets — ahead of forthcoming mandates.
WALKING THE TALK -
The EDDEN Project highlights the Martinique distillery’s circular and sustainable efforts to date and its roadmap for improvement, as well as advocating for similar commitments from distilleries around the world.
WASTE NOT -
The microdistiller not only sources grains, fruit and materials from local suppliers — it repurposes as many byproducts of the distilling process as possible, in what’s likely one of the most scalable examples of circularity so far in the spirits business.
WALKING THE TALK -
Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever, have both launched pilots aimed at drastically cutting their GHG emissions — if successful, both are hoping to drive industry-wide change for truly game-changing impacts.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Innovation Connections accelerator program aims to fast-track vital food system innovations; Tesco is also calling on the UK government to help accelerate scale-up of late-stage innovations in food supply chains.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Kansas City distiller J. Rieger & Co. has crafted a one-time edition of Cover Crop Whiskey, made with cereal rye from local farms, to raise awareness of more
sustainable farming practices.