Latin American Summit Takes On Sustainability Issues
By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online
Sustainability is becoming a growing concern for the food industry, and major producers and manufacturers have a vested interest in making sure that more sustainable practices are discovered and adopted
The Sustainable Foods Summit recently held its inaugural Latin American edition in São Paulo, Brazil. Companies such as Walmart, Mondelez International, Cargill, and Unilever, met March 27 and 28 to figure out ways to address some of the major sustainability concerns around the globe. The summit features talks given by industry experts, providing audience members practical and relevant guidance so that they can work on implementing what they learn. The gathering also provides the opportunity for these major companies to network, especially regarding sustainability issues, so that the problems may better addressed with industry-wide strategies.
The Latin American edition of the summit also offers insight into the concerns of producers in the region. One of the major issues Latin American producers face revolves around organic foods. While many consumers have some knowledge of organic farming practices, many do not know the exact differences between conventional and organic products. This leaves producers with the challenge of educating consumers about organic produce, a hurdle somewhat unique to the region. Interestingly, Latin America grows a large variety and significant quantity of organic goods, including sugar, orange juice, wheat, and cocoa.
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The summit also addressed one of the hottest topics in the food industry lately: sustainable beef production. Latin America contributes a sizeable share to the global beef market, with countries such as Brazil and Argentina, so the sustainable beef effort is of particular concern to the region. Ranchers in Latin America, especially Brazil, have historically been linked to deforestation and clearing deforested land for livestock production. Media attention and growing consumer and industry awareness over the importance of sustainability is leading to shifts toward more sustainable practices. Livestock producers in the region that engage in legal, ethical, and sustainable beef-growing are recognized for their endeavors, while those that continue to ranch on deforested land are blacklisted.
Other issues covered at the summit include the growing amount of certification schemes for food products, developing markets, production efficiency, marketing for organic foods, and sustainable packaging. Companies are trying to implement sustainability in nearly every part of the supply chain, which means better growing practices, lower energy processing, less wasteful packaging, and recyclability. June 5-6 the Sustainable Foods Summit will hold another event in Amsterdam. Some topics approached at the Latin American summit will likely reappear and other new ones, such as sustainable proteins, clean-label developments, and emerging technologies, will be discussed.