Report: Food firms ‘cannot expect consumers to pay premium for high sustainability standards’
Consumers who aren’t prepared to pay a premium for high standards present a problem for food and drink companies wishing to improve their sustainability agenda, according to a report by the Sustainable Food Supply Chains Commission. The Commission suggests “companies that aspire to promote social and environmental sustainability in their supply chains are competing with other companies that may not share those aspirations”. Whilst people are becoming more interested in sustainability issues, the report finds there is a “limit to how much companies can expect consumers to pay for higher standards.” The report identifies government leadership as an important factor, adding that regulation can be “empowering” for companies, allowing them to do what they may be held back from doing by the pressures of market competition. (Edie)
Policy
Indian government to crack down on promotion of CSR activities by tobacco companies
The Indian government’s planned anti-tobacco legislation, which saw cigarette stocks falling on Tuesday, will discourage manufacturers from “earning goodwill” through their legally mandated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. New legislation will limit the ways in which tobacco companies can publicise their social outreach efforts, adding to existing strict curbs on advertising and marketing of tobacco products. The government’s new legislation will also extend the ban on tobacco promotion to media platforms such as mobile phones and the Internet, and disallow restaurants, hotels and airports from creating designated smoking areas. (The Economic Times)
Innovation
Foster + Partners collaborate with Skanska to pioneer 3D printing concrete buildings
The architecture and integrated design practice Foster + Partners has teamed up with building contractor Skanska to pioneer the use of 3D-printed concrete in the construction industry. Skanska aims to “develop the world’s first commercial concrete printing robot” within the first 18 months of a development programme that is taking place in collaboration with Loughborough University in the UK.Rob Francis of Skanska notes in the Architects Journal: “3D concrete printing, when combined with a type of mobile prefabrication centre, has the potential to reduce the time needed to create complex elements of buildings from weeks to hours. We expect to achieve a level of quality and efficiency which has never been seen before in construction.” As well as Foster + Partners, the research team is working with other contractors Buchan Concrete, ABB and Lafarge Tarmac, with an aim to establish a 3D printing supply chain. (Dezeen; Treehugger)
Supply Chain
Ikea pledges 100% certified sustainable palm oil
Following the likes of Unilever and Cargill, Ikea has become the latest company to commit to using only sustainably sourced palm oil. Ikea has set a goal to source 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil for its home furnishing products by 2015. This will be achieved by using palm oil from segregated sources (certified palm oil that is physically separated from non-certified palm oil all the way from the certified mill to the end user), or by replacing palm oil with more sustainable raw materials. Furthermore by December 2017 all palm oil used in home furnishing products will come from sources verified as meeting Ikea additional requirements around deforestation and planting on peat. (Environmental Leader)
Best Buy accused by Greenpeace of destroying ancient Canadian forest
Yesterday, Greenpeace released a report exposing US retailer Best Buy for fuelling destruction in Canada’s Boreal Forest, one of the world’s last remaining ancient forests. The report says Best Buy is apparently buying more than 100 million pounds of paper every year to produce throw-away flyers from Resolute Forest Products, a company that sources almost exclusively from the Boreal. Resolute Forest Products has previously been exposed for logging in endangered forests and the habitat of threatened caribou herds, for disregarding First Nations rights, and for repeatedly violating forestry regulations and making false sustainability claims. Greenpeace assessed Best Buy’s paper-buying policy against a cross-sectoral sample of other consumer companies that source paper and timber from the Boreal Forest, including sustainability leaders such as Kimberly-Clark and Office Depot; Best Buy was ranked in last place. (Sustainable Brands)
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