London – The food industry needs to take greater steps towards sustainable development. This was one of the key messages from the Sustainable Foods Summit (www.sustainablefoodssummit.com), hosted in Amsterdam in June. Soil fertility, carbon management, regulatory framework, and sustainable food production were stated as major areas of concern.

The importance of soil fertility for sustainability was expressed by Professor Pablo Tittonell from Wageningen University. He showed how soil fertility has a direct impact on plant and animal health. He called for sustainable farming practices to improve nutrient quality in soil. A similar message was echoed by Tobias Bandel from Soil & More: improved soil structure produces lower water footprint, greater nutrient quality, as well as carbon sequestration.

Dominic Watkins from DWF highlighted the regulatory uncertainty in the European food industry. With fears of a Grexit and the UK holding an in-out referendum, it was not clear what the EU would look like in a few years, let alone the regulatory landscape. He believes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could escalate food trade between the US and EU. However, a major challenge is harmonisation since there was ‘a huge chasm’ in regulations between the two sides.

According to Wessanen, the future of the food industry lies with sustainable foods. By the use of food pyramids, Laurence Beck showed how the healthiest food has the lowest environmental impact. She stated the strategy of her company was to focus on organic and health foods. As part of this strategy, it had acquired Clipper, Alter Eco and Isola Bio in recent years, and was looking for similar such companies.

The food industry needs to act if it is to avert a carbon crisis. This was the message from Craig Sams, founder and president of Green & Black’s, in his keynote. He said 125 million hectares of fertile soil is lost each year. He believes carbon pricing is inevitable if we are to maintain agricultural land.

In another seminar on mainstream distribution, Sams shared his experiences in developing the Whole Earth and Green & Black’s brands. He called the Whole Earth a ‘campaigning brand’ that appealed to green consumers, whilst Green & Black’s was positioned as an ethical chocolate. In another paper, Coop Denmark showed how private labels can be successful with sustainable products; its Anglamark private label is recognised by 70% of Danish consumers. Apart from organic foods, it represents natural baby care products, personal care products and home care products.

The complexities of sustainable packaging were also debated. Professor Roland Ten Klooster from University of Twente stated the difficulties in coming up with the ideal ‘green packaging’ He encouraged brands to put design at the heart of packaging decisions. Andy Sweetman from Innovia gave an overview of the growing range of bioplastic options for food and beverage products. The raw chocolate brand LoveChock shared its experiences in adopting sustainable packaging solutions. It is using cellulose films and origami-style packaging for its chocolates.

This 7th European edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit brought together over 130 senior executives from the food industry. Sustainability discussions will continue in 2016 with the North American (20-21 January, San Francisco), European (June, Amsterdam) and Latin American (June, São Paulo) editions.
About the Sustainable Foods Summit

Organised by Organic Monitor, the aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues in a high level forum. The proceedings of the 7th European edition (Amsterdam, 4-5th June) are available for a professional fee. More information is available from www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

About Organic Monitor
Organic Monitor is a specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on the global organic & related product industries. Since 2001, we have been providing a range of business services to operators in high-growth ethical & sustainable industries. Our services include market research publications, business & technical consulting, seminars & workshops, and sustainability summits. Visit us at www.organicmonitor.com

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