Webinar: Sustainability, responding to the challenges & opportunities

Webinar: Sustainability, responding to the challenges & opportunities
Avaiblility: On demand
Recommended for food & beverage industry professionals 

Our industry fully recognizes that as the world’s population grows, so does the challenge of feeding the global population in a way that supports our ambitions for global nutrition, but is also ethical and safely operates within our planet’s finite resources. Food businesses are being subjected to greater expectations for action on their sustainability programs by consumers, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders. At TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, we seek to help businesses create the best outcomes for their enterprise - and better outcomes for the food and agriculture industry collectively - from the primary producer through to food retail and consumer. Sustainability is at the heart of our mission, along with food safety, quality and traceability.

In our latest webinar we explore the challenges and opportunities of sustainability demands and the technological advancements in supporting sustainability journeys in the food value chain. Brought to you by our industry experts, Becca Gale, Product Director for Supply Chain & Sustainability and James Taylor, Sustainability Analyst, who have a combined experience spanning decades in producing safe and sustainable food.

There’s an often used phrase that “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” but Becca Gale would take that further to add that “you can’t measure what’s unknown”. Becca will be discussing this further by reviewing what can happen if you don’t go beyond who you’re directly buying from to create the full supply chain picture. 

We recognise that the global sustainability challenges that the food industry face are exactly that - global - and do not reflect all supply chains or farm operations. There are farmers and companies excelling at implementing more sustainable and regenerative practices. But overall, there’s a long way to go and even today’s best performing operations and supply chains need to continuously improve to build resilient and sustainable food systems. In this webinar we discuss what the drivers of change are - for farmers and food business - and what kind of changes can we implement today?

This webinar also explores how consumers are a significant driver of change. In the age of digital news feeds and informed buying, society is increasingly aware that not all companies they buy from are equal in their sustainability progress and ambitions. Recent research indicates there is an eco-wakening social change - with millennials and Gen Zs demonstrating strong affiliation with brands they identify with - and sustainability is a popular area of brand value that they seek out. Connected to this, there has been a 70% rise in the popularity of searches for sustainable products over the last few years. Informed consumers are increasingly choosing to purchase products differentiated by sustainability and have spent around $150 billion on sustainable products in 2021 and this is set to increase for 2022 and beyond.

As an industry, we've also seen a steady and significant growth in the companies that measure and disclose on key sustainability KPIs and targets - such as climate, water and deforestation. For example one third of the 2000 largest publicly traded companies now have Net Zero targets - meaning a public commitment to achieve reductions in defined near term milestones and to regularly report on verified actual achievements through common reporting protocols.  

Achieving sustainability goals means good business. Institutional and private investors are increasingly factoring ESG performance in asset management decisions - either due diligence, negative screening or impact investing. Businesses are therefore aware that their stock valuations and ability to raise capital affordably is increasingly dependent on their verified sustainability credentials.

When was the last time you reviewed the way you map your supply chain and measure the sustainability credentials of the food products you purchase? Join us to hear the latest industry and technological developments in enabling a sustainable food value chain by unlocking actionable insights. This webinar is free to attend and open to food producers, manufacturers, grocery retailers, food service professions and food distributors.