Sustainability Practices, Transformative Megatrends, and Innovative Technologies Driving Growth
With sustainability in the food and beverage industry drawing attention on global platforms, such as the COP28 UAE Declaration, stakeholders seek to transform their food systems. Sustainability will gain momentum in the nutrition industry because of the growing manufacturer and consumer awareness about the environment and government initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint.
Ingredient manufacturers intend to source sustainable raw materials and adopt energy-efficient production processes that consume less water. These companies will support and incentivize regenerative agricultural practices. They also plan to use renewable energy sources to run their business operations; thus, reducing their carbon footprints.
Downstream companies’ demand for sustainable products and processes to meet their carbon emission targets under the Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) category will push nutrition companies to follow sustainable practices and offer products with reduced carbon footprints.
Europe leads the world toward a sustainable future. It has introduced various strategic initiatives, such as the Green Deal and single-use plastic legislation. These initiatives will accelerate sustainability practices’ implementation in the nutrition industry.
Companies will promote carbon-neutral supply chains by integrating technology, implementing eco-friendly packaging, and educating their customers on sustainable choices to meet their UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Food waste management will remain a key point in the nutrition industry’s agenda. This is due to the limited options available for tackling emissions from food wastage. Companies will leverage technology to reduce food loss at various stages in the supply chain.
Investments in start-ups researching and innovating sustainable alternatives will gain traction, such as proteins and feed ingredients to improve feed efficiency.
The nutrition industry’s hurdles to sustainability include the high cost and low return on investment of implementation; the lack of uniform standards and regulations, universal measuring and reporting tools, and methods to quantify sustainability efforts’ impact; and the poor visibility around sustainable practices’ adoption in contract manufacturing.
