Food industry must bring sustainability into the heart of business, says Euromonitor

The food and drink sector is at the heart of sustainability issues ‘whether it likes it or not’, according to a Euromonitor analyst.

“Sustainability is arguably the consumer trend of our day,” says Sarah Boumphrey, head of countries and consumers research at Euromonitor, in a video on the market researcher’s blog.

“The food and drink sector is at the heart of sustainability issues whether it likes it or not, and companies which wish to be successful tomorrow and want to compete in the market must take sustainability into the heart of the business,” she said.

“…Despite it being perceived in some quarters as a rich world obsession it actually crosses both cultural and income divides. This is borne out in many Euromonitor surveys.”

In a global survey of middle-class homes, the research organisation found that ecological considerations were ‘most’ or ‘very’ important for 46% of respondents when making purchasing decisions, rising to more than three-quarters of respondents in China and Indonesia.

Environmental issues were also found to be of concern to people from very different income brackets, including those earning the least. Euromonitor found that interest in ‘green’ products was highest among those in the United States earning between $2,500 and $40,000 a year.

“This explains why there is a proliferation of green products on the market, right through from value or private label lines through to super-premium products made by artisan producers,” said Boumphrey.

There are several best-case practices in the sector, and the market analyst highlighted some of the more unusual initiatives.

PepsiCo’s Walkers crisps brand, for example, worked with potato farmers to produce drier potatoes, thereby saving energy in the drying process.

And a Nestlé initiative has led to 20 out of 32 Nescafé factories using coffee grounds as part of their renewable fuel.

The full video is available online here.