The UK government is calling on manufacturers to use local county of origin labelling on its products – but unlike in Italy such measures would be voluntary.
A sustainable logo is known to add value to a brand – so why are so many manufacturers not showing their Fairtrade, organic or sustainable credentials?
A growing trend for sustainability certifications and on pack ‘branding’ could mean manufacturers are missing the wider point of sustainability issues and may confuse consumers so much they no longer care.
The food industry – the most water-intensive business on earth - is unprepared for global water shortages, according to a report which ranks the best and worst offending companies for their water management.
The world’s biggest food firm, Nestlé, has put reducing food waste firmly on its agenda, announcing plans to help further prevent the issue of food losses and waste around the world at the Save Food Congress.
A single, unifying sustainability standard would be helpful for consumers – but it’s a long way off, says Organic Monitor president and founder Amarjit Sahota.
By Antoine Boudib, Managing Director, Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company Ltd, a Finatrade Company
Cocoa buying companies are the main intermediaries between the chocolate industry and farmers and should not be forgotten in the pursuit of sustainable cocoa, writes one of the largest licensed cocoa buyers in West Africa Finatrade.
ConfectioneryNews will be reporting from ISM and ProSweets 2015 next month in Cologne where the organizers anticipate growing interest in organic products, natural ingredients and sustainable packaging.
The chocolate industry’s biggest players will discuss how to move forward on cocoa sustainability at the World Cocoa Foundation’s meeting in Copenhagen next week. ConfectioneryNews will be there to bring you the latest.
A heated panel debate over the reality of a consumer industry based on 100% sustainable palm oil broke out at the European Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil held in London last week.
Food businesses and consumers don’t understand the impact emerging economies could face if pressure to source 100% sustainable palm oil builds too quickly, Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) sustainable development manager Fiona Wheatley claims.
Food and drink firms must be more proactive at assessing the sustainability of their products and ingredients, rather than reacting to market interest, according to Leatherhead Food Research expert Emma Gubisch.
By Winnie Byanyima, executive director, Oxfam International
Food and drink companies can have a big influence over sustainability and ethical issues in their supply chains - and have the power to change them rapidly. One year on from Oxfam's first Behind the Brands sustainability scorecard, nine of the ten...
Unilever and Ferrero both said they would strengthen their commitments to sustainable palm oil this week – a sign of an industry in transformation, according to Catapult, an organisation working to end trade in commodities linked to deforestation.
Food manufacturing giant Unilever will work with international non-profit Solidaridad to drive the sustainable development of the sugar cane industry in Central America.
French and German palm oil industries and users have joined a handful of other European countries in committing to source all palm oil sustainably with national pledges announced at the European Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) summit in Berlin...
Borregaard's vanillin and ethyl vanillin plant in Norway has acquired the food safety certification FSSC22000 to distinguish it from a rise in competitors.
Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
Unilever and Nestlé say Oxfam missed an opportunity for a wider and more comprehensive debate about food ethics after the NGO published a damning report on the supply chains of the world’s biggest food firms this week.
The Hershey Company has joined the advisory council of a new non-profit organization – the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) - that aims to develop industry-wide standards on sustainability.
Barry Callebaut’s joint venture cocoa partner Biopartenaire is now Rainforest Alliance Certified - a move that forms part of a wider puzzle of efforts towards sustainability, it said.
Mondelez International, Nestlé, Ferrero and Mars have all signed the Abidjan Cocoa Declaration and pledged to create a sustainable cocoa industry that guarantees a fair deal for farmers.
Nestlé has opened an extended product technology center for confectionery in the UK, which will better enable it to develop products and packaging with sustainable materials.
Greenpeace has published a scorecard rating palm oil producers’ sustainability efforts, in order to provide food and other consumer goods companies with better information about how their palm oil is produced.
UTZ Certified has said it will aim for half of the world’s coffee, tea and cocoa to be produced sustainably by 2022, at a tenth anniversary seminar held in Amsterdam this week.
Barry Callebaut has announced that it will collaborate with Rainforest Alliance to train members from five farmer cooperatives in Cameroon to produce certified cocoa.
Urgent action was necessary to avoid the “bleak situation” of a serious global shortage of cocoa supplies within a decade, Fiona Dawson, president of Mars Chocolate UK, warned yesterday (June 12).
Twice as much UTZ certified cocoa was sold to producers in 2011 compared to the previous year as demand for sustainable cocoa soared in Germany, according to the recently published UTZ Certified Annual Report 2011.
Demand for cocoa is expected to climb 30% in the next 10 years creating a 25% shortage of current supply, according to North American cocoa processor and chocolate ingredients supplier Blommer Chocolate Company.
In light of current economic difficulties organic consumers are looking elsewhere for foods, and sustainable products resonate with their core values, according to the MD of Cert ID.
Barry Callebaut is investing €33.2 (CHF 40m) over the next 10 years in a cocoa sustainability initiative it hopes will boost farm productivity, increase quality and improve farmer livelihoods.
Greater ownership and management of the stevia supply chain has helped to build a system that is sustainable, responsible, and scalable, say leading global suppliers PureCircle and Cargill.
The incorporation of sustainability throughout the supply chain involves constant innovation, commitment from company leadership and a realization that it is an indefinite process, said Datamonitor.
A call from the Netherlands to end European import duty on sustainably produced palm oil has been welcomed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The proposal is designed to encourage the uptake of sustainable palm oil by offsetting some of...
New global guidelines on packaging sustainability will help companies reduce their carbon footprint while boosting efficiency and spur more effective communication between players throughout the supply chain, said Unilever’s Nigel Bagley.
Political leadership is crucial to encouraging more sustainable food consumption, attendees at a Kellogg’s Breakfast Club meeting heard this month, with industry and civil society playing important roles too.
If doing your bit for the planet used to be a good way of earning a few brownie points, it is now increasingly becoming a condition of doing business with the nation’s biggest food retailers.
UK supermarket chain, Marks & Spencer, said its entire Swiss chocolate range will now feature a corn starch-based Plantic tray to hold the chocolates, while the outer-box, it added, is made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified cardboard.
Environmental management systems (EMS) can be a good tool for food processors looking to achieve the twin goals of improved productivity and corporate responsibility.
Nestlé has bolstered its sustainable palm oil commitments by partnering with The Forest Trust (TFT) in a move described as “game-changing” for the industry.
