Food and beverage roundtable report

Proliferation of sustainability certification schemes is key talking point of Two Tomorrows roundtable for food and beverage companies

Representatives of leading food and beverage companies came together to discuss the way ahead for sustainability certification in the industry at a recent roundtable hosted by Two Tomorrows.

Guest speaker Rob Cameron, CEO of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations, joined Two Tomorrows executive chairman Mark Line in leading the event, which was designed to examine the proliferation of certification standards for food and beverage products and to help companies develop their response – both individually and collectively.

Held in London, the event was attended by companies including Bacardi, Coca-Cola Enterprises, The Co-operative Group, Green & Blacks, Marks & Spencer, Mars and Nestlé as well as the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mark Line opened the event by presenting results of the latest Tomorrows Value Rating research carried out by Two Tomorrows revealing a lack of serious engagement in sustainability issues among the large ‘tier one’ suppliers in the industry. These companies currently provide little corporate responsibility performance information; indeed, only four of the 10 largest food ingredient companies have produced recent and substantive CR reports. This general lack of engagement presents a challenge for food and beverage companies who need to work with their suppliers to understand and manage their supply chains so as to be able to achieve compliance with sustainability certification schemes.

Rob Cameron then gave a presentation about the Fairtrade labelling scheme and provided his perspective on product certification generally. He highlighted the benefits for participating companies, suppliers and consumers as well as the barriers to the effectiveness of these schemes.

Both presentations prompted much discussion among delegates. There was broad agreement on several issues, including:

• The need for greater collaboration between brand owners and their suppliers both to raise standards and to provide consumers the assurance they are increasingly seeking – via certification schemes – that the products they are buying have been produced ethically.
• The potential benefits of greater cooperation between the brand owners and retailers who are the larger customers of the most significant certification schemes – in particular, so that they can influence the development of the certification agenda.
• Important lessons can be learned from the development of some of the longer-standing schemes in other areas, such as forest management.

Other questions debated included:

• How can the costs of certification be reduced to the benefit of farmers, consumers and participating businesses?
• Is there scope for consolidation in the certification arena – and possibly even for the setting up of a single ‘base’ scheme that unifies the main standards?

Find out more

For a full report on the discussions during the event, email rob.pearson@twotomorrows.com.

Two Tomorrows’ roundtable events are a chance for CR managers and others to learn from each other and industry experts in confidential and creative settings. See upcoming events.