Sustainability action needed now or there will be no industry by 2030

Members of the food and drink industry gathered at ZSL London Zoo this week for the launch of the strategy, which set out five targeted Ambitions for the next five years, highlighting the industry’s commitment to reducing its impact on the planet.

Speakers from across the industry, including representatives from the National Farmers Union, The British Retail Consortium and Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), discussed their sustainability plans and the actions businesses need to be taking now to be able to survive to 2030.

Speaking at the event, Estelle Herszenhorn – head of food system transformation at the (WRAP) – told Food Manufacture ​her thoughts on the day’s proceedings.

Collaboration across the supply chain

“For me, the themes I heard were about the need for collaboration and recognising that everyone has a different starting point and a different viewpoint, but the challenges we're facing are often those that are really hard to address alone – or there's a limit to how fast a business can go or, how much impact can be made,”​ she said.

While a lot of work has already been done by food and drink firms to make their businesses more sustainable, more can always be done – especially when it comes to expanding their effectiveness across the value chain.

“I think it's really positive to have a plan and it's really important that it's been recognised that there's also a need for action in that plan and for us not to be of paralysed by the complexity but to be thinking about the steps we could take,”​ Herszenhorn continued.

“Some of the examples that have been shared today have been really helpful, because it's brought it to life a bit and I think there's always a step forward that can be taken, even if it's just an idea or a new connection.”​

Taking action

The day’s speakers shared their visions of a more sustainable food and drink industry taking action to halt the spread of deforestation, actively marching towards net zero and stepping up their plans to reduce waste. But how can we make sure we aren’t having the same conversation in five years’ time?

Herszenhorn recognised that with issues such as sustainability, the complexity can often raise more question than answers. That said, one of the key messages that came out of the talks was ‘don’t let perfect get in the way of good’.

Sometimes a project doesn’t need to be grand in scale to start moving the business towards being more sustainable. What you’re working on may not be solving all of the problems, but it can serve as a step towards your bigger goals.

“Is it something where you do have enough influence that you can make something happen and that then builds the muscles for the ​[bigger] action and working in a different way,”​ Herszenhorn explained. “The other thing that I think will really help is finding way to make more of what we already have.​

Existing platforms

“We need to be focusing on not just new things, but how we can get some of those​ [existing actions] happening at scale.​ Take advantages of the existing platforms and forums to raise awareness, share good practise.”​

Event chair and former Marks & Spencer director of sustainability Mike Barry put it best: We won’t be having these discussions if we don’t take action now, because there won’t be any businesses operating.

Of course, many businesses are put off taking action due to the uncertainty surrounding regulations and legislation, especially after such a long period of Conservative rule. The question is, can we really wait for the UK Government to give us direction, or do we need to take matters into our own hands?

Unfortunately, not everyone can be a leader in the field, and there does need to be some level of direction given to businesses to help them on their way. That being said, cutting edge ideas from industry can become the new normal outside of the influence of regulations.

“For me, its an ‘and/both’ situation,”​ Herszenhorn added. “We definitely shouldn't be waiting until the perfect policies are in place and so forth, but having that confidence and sense of direction​ [from the government] is really helpful and there's no getting around that there are some things that require a level playing field or require answers.”​