The European edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit will feature sustainable ingredients, and approaches to tackle food losses & waste. Taking place on 9-10th June, the executive summit will be hosted in Amsterdam for the eighth consecutive year.

The proceedings will open with a discussion on the implications of COP21. The food industry generates a quarter of all greenhouse gases, with over half coming from livestock production. What can be done to mitigate emissions from dairy and meat production?

Taco Kingma from Friesland Campina will look at the solutions provided by sustainable dairy farming. How is the dairy cooperative expanding its business by climate-neutral growth? Alpro, the leading plant-based food company in Europe, will show how it is leading the way in reducing and offsetting carbon emissions. Its Provamel brand has been carbon neutral since 2010. The Marine Stewardship Council will give an update on sustainable seafood and its new seaweed standard.

Advances in sustainable ingredients will be featured. The Italian pasta firm Barilla will show it is adding sustainable value to raw materials. Its sustainable durum wheat has led to improvements in product quality, soil fertility, and higher economic output. Using tea as a case study, an update will be given on sustainable sourcing and transparency.

The Union for Ethical BioTrade will give details of its new sustainability programme for herbal teas. With most companies focusing on environmental footprints, Tradin Organic will highlight some of the issues when addressing social impacts of ingredients. Other topics include emerging natural sweeteners, formulating for transparency, and novel ingredients from food waste.

Summit participants will also discuss the future direction of sustainability labels. Is the way forward with the rising number of third party labelling schemes, or with in-house sustainable sourcing programmes like those introduced by Starbucks, Nestlé and Mondelez Foods? An update will be given on leading certification schemes: organic, fairtrade, as well as new initiatives such as Danube Soya and the Sustainable Rice Platform.

Food companies involved in such schemes will share their experiences, whilst a research agency will give the consumer perspective. What does the consumer expect from sustainable foods? How important are labels?

The magnitude of food losses & waste is becoming a major concern. The Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 1.3 billion tonnes of food goes to waste, releasing 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. Robert van Otterdijk will cast some solutions on how to reduce losses at the grower, processing and distribution level. Krom Kommer will demonstrate how unwanted food can be the source of new enterprise.

The Dutch firm is collecting ‘crooked’ vegetables to create sustainable soups. A European supermarket will highlight the challenges when marketing ‘ugly’ fruits to consumers. The role of packaging in extending life-time of food products will be discussed, as well as approaches to overcome barriers to reducing waste at consumer level. The session will adjourn with featured speakers debating approaches to encourage responsible consumption.

The 8th European edition will be hosted at the Mövenpick hotel in Amsterdam on 9-10th June 2016. More information is available from www.sustainablefoodssummit.com/europe/

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