Sustainability remains at the core of industry agendas
pic: shutterstock
There is no doubting that sustainability has taken hold as the number one industry issue relating to our sector, as well as many other industries besides, as major environmental topics presenting major long-term challenges.
This was underlined by news from Mars this week, as a core member of the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition, reached out to invite other key brands including Mondelez, Nestle and General Mills, to join the global scheme that seeks to drive momentum on delivering on goals aimed at delivering on net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from industry.
This is being delivered through a series of instructional seminars encouraging businesses geared towards encouraging supply chains to adopt science-based targets for environmental performances within respective businesses.
It’s through such schemes that industry can put thoughts and policy into firm actions to make genuine inroads in relation to climate change – the stakes are especially high, as the viability of many industries, including the cocoa sector serving the confectionery sector, are dependent on global conditions remaining as stable as possible to enable agricultural production to thrive.
Such topics are certain to be high on the agenda of this year’s latest Networking Days event from Buhler in Switzerland, which was last staged three years ago, and sent a powerful message to the entire food and drink sector that simply carrying on as we are is not a viable option if we want to preserve our valuable food chains around the world.
Hence, companies around the world are continually updating their sustainability policies, as has been seen with the likes of Netherlands-based GNT colouring foods, as it released its own findings on how it intends to deliver on its ongoing mission to be as environmentally sensitive as possible.
Another example, here in the UK, confectionery brand Fudge Kitchen has just confirmed a review of its own sustainability approach, with a specific focus on improving environmental credentials of its packaging – which is a major consideration for businesses around the world.
So, it’s the continuing actions of such businesses to review and improve their impact on the environment that will ultimately make a difference. However, as Buhler’s event noted three years ago – time is not necessarily on our side if we’re going to avert further considerable damage to our ecosystems.
But the fact that the environment is regularly making major news bulletins, backed by increasing consumer awareness of our individual and industry impact on the environment, is surely a sign that significant improvements can be delivered in time to make a tangible difference.
Neill Barston, editor, Confectionery Production
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