Archive of: Product sustainability

Tim Greiner presented and facilitated a lively panel discussion at the Sustainable Brands New Metrics conference with speakers from Colgate-Palmolive, Campbell's, AB InBev, and Cornell University.

Food production dominates fresh water use and is a primary driving force for soil and biodiversity loss – and food demand is on the rise. The good news is that while faced with such challenges and often considered to be lagging on sustainability, the food and beverage industry stands out as most-improved in a 2015 survey.

Business relevant goals engage teams throughout the organization and make sustainability meaningful for employees from procurement specialists and product developers to sales managers and marketing teams.

Those of us in the field may share a deep-seated belief that sustainability efforts across the product value chain pay clear dividends — but it’s nice to have proof. Nearly all firms state that they have achieved business benefits from their product sustainability programs, according to the second Pure Strategies survey of companies involved in product sustainability.

Companies following product sustainability best practices are gaining benefits that include reduced costs, improved employee engagement and productivity, and increased consumer trust and brand enhancement.

Just as companies evaluate their carbon, water and waste footprints, the CFP finally provides a tool that enables purchasers and brands to: benchmark and measure progress towards safer chemicals; recognize and reward suppliers for doing what matters most to retailers and customers; create greater accountability across value chains; encourage chemical information sharing; and provide a metric to compare and measure continuous improvement of suppliers.

However, exceptions aside, the food industry trails other sectors with only 47 percent of the food companies surveyed achieving manufacturing cost savings, compared to 86 percent of the survey’s overall top-performing respondents. Among consumer electronics and home and personal care companies, 88 percent and 78 percent of companies, respectively, reported securing positive results. The food industry’s shortfall in this area extended to all of the benefits studied, including employee engagement, trust and brand enhancement and other potential gains.