Innovation Forum podcast

Tackling agricultural emissions and food loss

IFC’s senior industry specialist Ahmad Slaibi, and Tom Cumberlege, director at the Carbon Trust, talk with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about their collaborative efforts in developing a tool to address the food loss challenge in the agricultural sector. They explore the tool’s potential for agribusinesses at reducing greenhouse emissions by tracking food losses, and its broader implications for food security and environmental sustainability.

Weekly podcast – How to make tasty foods healthier

This week: Tate & Lyle's president of innovation and commercial development, Victoria Spadaro Grant, talks with Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne about the challenges and concerns around ultra-processed foods and what brands should prioritise to secure the future of food systems. They discuss how ultra-processed foods can be a solution to tackle sustainability, nutrition and accessibility of food.

 

Plus: Better Cotton in the spotlight again over sustainability claims; people's climate vote supports stronger climate action and support for global south; UK retail chain John Lewis launches a 20-piece circular economy home and fashion collection; ISSB shares guidelines to align sustainability reporting; UK delivery company Evri increasing its electric vehicle fleet as part of a £19m investment; and, Denmark to introduce the world's first carbon tax on agriculture, in the news digest by Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Beneath the surface: how data and technology can drive carbon farming and resilience at farm-level

On 20th June, Innovation Forum hosted a free virtual event with Bayer Crop Science.

Data is key to shaping decisions that increase food production, farm incomes, and climate resilience. For farmers, the right data is an essential foundation for efficient, productive, and profitable operations. And now, it is becoming much easier for farmers to benefit from the data they produce. In this webinar, we discussed real-life case studies to explore how data collection and analysis can inform decision making at the farm level. We also assessed how agribusinesses like Bayer can leverage data and support carbon sequestration efforts to reduce emissions, protect nature, and build supply chain resilience. 

Our panel examined: 

• How technology and data can support farmers to deliver efficiency gains, emissions reductions, and carbon sequestration.
• How effective Measurement, Reporting, and Verification can ensure compliance and progress for food value chain actors.
• How Bayer's digital solutions can empower carbon farming and effective data sharing throughout the value chain.

Our panel included:

• Valeria Forlin, policy officer, European Commission (DG CLIMA)
• Juan Palomares, managing director EU, Trinity AgTech
• Kiera Holland, EMEA digital solutions science manager, Bayer Crop Science 
• Lionnel Alexandre, head of carbon science EMEA, Bayer Crop Science 

The discussion was moderated by Toby Webb, founder of Innovation Forum.

This webinar was hosted in partnership with Bayer Crop Science.

Monday briefing – What's the sustainable approach to cotton?

This week: CottonConnect's Alison Ward spoke with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh at the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam. They discussed what climate resilience looks like in cotton production and the unintended consequences of over-reliance on technology to tackle this.

Plus: Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne announces the scope 3 innovation forum USA, returning to Washington DC on 3rd-4th December this year.  Click here for more information.

And, Catie Ball shares the latest updates ahead of the sustainable apparel and textiles conference USA this week. CottonConnect will be continuing the conversation in New York, click here for registration details.

ofi’s sustainability strategy launch

On 18th June, IF hosted a virtual event for ofi’s sustainability strategy launch

Increasing regulatory requirements are tasking food and beverage companies with more robust corporate reporting. Strengthening commitments to enhance the resilience of supply chains also remains a key imperative to deliver the change the law demands and farmers, rural communities and nature needs.

Enabling better choices to be made across the value chain is the focus of ‘Choices for Change’, a new sustainability strategy by ofi, a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients. With 2030 targets and action plans spanning its five product platforms – cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices – join us as we discussed:  

• The imperative to drive positive change across the food system, to enable prosperous farmers, thriving communities, climate action and a regenerated living world  
• The role of data and digital tools in generating actionable insight to inform more efficient interventions for real and measurable impact
• The intensive technical process involved in aligning definitions, methodologies and metrics to create an integrated, ambitious strategy at scale

We heard valuable insights from: 

• Roel van Poppel, chief sustainability officer, ofi
• Christopher Stewart, global head, sustainability impact, ofi
• Burcu Turkay, global head of sustainability for nuts, ofi 
• Alastair Child, chief sustainability officer, Mars Wrigley
• Stephanie Daniels, senior program director, Sustainable Food Lab
• Jeffery P. Cohen, mission director Indonesia, USAID

The discussion was moderated by Toby Webb, founder of Innovation Forum.

This virtual event was hosted in partnership with ofi.

Legislation to implementation: ESPR and digital product passports

This week: Debbie Shakespeare, senior director, sustainability and compliance at Avery Dennison talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how fashion companies can become ESPR compliant, outlining the main requirements of the Eco Design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and its timelines, starting with the latest developments, and offers practical tips to help companies get started today.

Plus: Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah the discusses the Nature Restoration Law, why EV sales growth has slowed in the US and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's latest report on the importance of producer responsibility policies (EPR) to achieve a circular economy for textiles.

Circular plastics: challenges and opportunities ahead

Eastman's circular policy director, Christopher Layton, discusses current progress and trends in developing circular economy models for plastic and packaging with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh. They provide guidance on taking a regional approach for greater circularity, useful regulatory approaches, and progress indicators.

Weekly podcast – Understanding scope 3 emissions in the cotton and grain supply chain

This week: Peter Bunce, vice president, head of cotton and microbials at Indigo Ag, talks with Ian Welsh about the importance of implementing regenerative agriculture and tackling scope 3 emissions. They discuss how companies can specifically address their cotton and grain scope 3 emissions, and best practices for collaboration.

Field by field: scaling regenerative practices beyond pilots to wide adoption

On June 11th, IF hosted a webinar in partnership with Vayda.

Advancing regenerative agriculture farming has become a priority for agri-food stakeholders in an effort to mitigate some of the most pressing challenges threatening the resilience of global food systems, whilst tackling climate change. While companies have experimented with regenerative farming practices, these often remain limited to the pilot phase.

 

In partnership with Vayda, a certified B Corp dedicated to boosting grower adoption of regenerative practices, this webinar explored the essential strategies needed to accelerate on-farm transformation and ensure long-term sustainable practice changes at an industry level.

Our panel of experts discussed:

• What does regenerative transformation entail for growers? 
• What are the biggest obstacles for scale according to farmers?
• How can farmers and companies best collaborate to de-risk and scale regenerative practices?  
• How can the food and agriculture industry maximize the impact of regenerative practices?  

We heard valuable insights from:

• Michael Shoemaker, CEO, Vayda  
• Gregory Bohrer, Director, Natural Capital, Walmart 
• Jon Griffel, Illinois-based farmer 
• Bill Parks, Mississippi-based farmer 

The webinar was moderated by Tanya Richard, COO and Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Innovation Forum

You can find more information about Vayda via their website or LinkedIn. 

 

Monday briefing – Farmer focus: what's really needed to drive sustainable food systems

This week: At our recent Future of Food and Beverage conference in Minneapolis, a Kansas farmer, Dwane Roth, shared the farmer's perspective of what's crucial to drive sustainable agricultural practices on the ground. In conversation with Ian Welsh, Dwane highlighted the importance of collaboration across the food and agriculture sectors.

Plus: Bayer Crop Science's EMEA digital solutions science manager, Kiera Holland, talks with Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah about the next webinar in the 'Beneath the surface' series, which will focus on carbon farming and farm-level resilience. Click here to join us live on June 20th at 3 PM CEST.

And, hear what ofi and partners plan to do in delivering prosperous farming communities, climate action, and a regenerated world on June 18th at 2 PM CEST. To join us live, you can click here.