Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

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.

The future of cotton farming: scaling regenerative sourcing

On 6th June, IF hosted a free webinar in partnership with CottonConnect.

Regenerative sourcing has shown significant promise for the cotton industry; helping to regenerate soils, support ecosystems, and improve farmer livelihoods all whilst increasing yield. With initial pilots showing the potential for transformative impact, how can this approach now be implemented at scale?

In this webinar, we used CottonConnect's work with cotton farmers in Gujarat as a case study to discuss:

• The challenges that remain in the cotton industry, and the potential for regenerative agriculture as a solution
• How best to work with local partners on the ground to implement regenerative programmes
• What are transferable lessons for regenerative transformation in the cotton sector globally

We heard valuable insights from:

• Alison Ward, CEO, CottonConnect
• Hardeep Desai, global head – farm programmes, CottonConnect
• Prakash Philip, senior director – monitoring evaluation & learning, CottonConnect

This discussion was moderated by Toby Webb, founder, Innovation Forum.

To learn more about CottonConnect's work with cotton farmers in Gujarat you can watch this film, and for more information on CottonConnect click here.

Engaging in landscape approaches: a how-to guide

Patrick Mallet, director for innovations at ISEAL Alliance, and Rachel Wall, project manager for landscapes and collaborations at Proforest, talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the importance of investing in landscape initiatives and what landscape actions can look like in practice. They discuss ISEAL Alliance's position papers that provides baseline expectations for companies on how to engage with landscape approaches and then how to communicate about their engagement.

Weekly briefing: KFC’s climate change commitments

KFC's chief sustainability officer Nira Johri and global chief development officer Nivera Wallani speak with Ian Welsh about the company's climate commitments across scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Hear how the brand's sustainability strategy is closely integrated with its overall development plans.

 

Also, Innovation Forum’s Natasha Bodnar discusses with Ian what to expect at the upcoming scope 3 emissions innovation forum in Amsterdam on 12th and 13th June. Click here for full registration details. 

 

Hear from Innovation Forum’s Sarah Jackson about the sustainable packaging innovation forum taking place in Philadelphia on October 29^th and 30th, which will focus on the opportunities and benefits from sustainable packaging solutions. Full registration details can be found here.

 

Plus, Innovation Forum’s Savanna Razzaque chats with Vayda's CEO Mike Shoemaker about the company's direct work with growers to drive regenerative transformation and preview of their upcoming farmer-led discussion on 11th June. Sign up here. 

 

Finally, hear about the upcoming Innovation Forum webinar hosted in partnership with ofi. Chief sustainability officer Roel van Poppel discusses with Savanna the launch of the company’s Choices for Change sustainability strategy.

Biological solutions for sustainable agriculture: how agri-food stakeholders can efficiently scale, accelerate and unlock innovation

On 4th June, IF hosted a webinar in partnership with Bayer Crop Science. 

In recent years, the agricultural industry has witnessed a significant shift towards sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Within this context, biologics – derived from natural resources such as microbes, plants, pheromones and other sources – are emerging as crucial agricultural tools in this transformation.  

Biological solutions have the opportunity to offer benefits for crop protection, soil health improvement, and regenerative farming practices. However, the ongoing discourse surrounding biologicals in agriculture contains uncertainties and misconceptions that warrant thorough exploration and discussion.  

Taking a myth-busting approach to dissect this prevailing discourse, our panel discussed:  

• What are the existing criticisms and hesitancies towards biologicals – and are these useful?  
• The role of biological crop protection in modern agriculture, with concrete examples of potential solutions.  
• How collaborative partnerships and initiatives within the food and ag industry can accelerate the commercialisation of the next generation of biological solutions 
• The current regulatory barriers for scale, and the outlook for the development of an enabling legal landscape 

We heard insights from:

• Benoit Hartmann, Head of Biologicals, Bayer Crop Science
• Christophe Breitenstroeter, Head of Crop Strategy, Bayer Crop Science
• Philippe Guerret, CEO, M2i Group
• Eirini-Christina Spanouli, Farmer

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

 

This is the third webinar (following part one and part two) in the 'Focus on Farmers' webinar series hosted in partnership with Bayer Crop Science.