Sustainable sourcing: Suppliers reinforce ethical strategies and explore tech advances

09 Nov 2021 --- Suppliers are upping their efforts toward sustainability, reassessing actions across their entire value chain. Efforts are focused on a myriad of improvements beyond reducing emissions, from improving livelihoods to providing healthier food.

Going back to basics, FoodIngredientsFirst speaks to suppliers Kerry, Sweegen, DSM and Uelzena on company strategies for the eco-centric sourcing of raw materials.

Increased care when sourcing from “high-risk” geographies, which are prone to issues such as deforestation, the use of bioconversion to get more from a crop and local sourcing are some of the ways suppliers are working to become more earth-positive. 

Innova Market Insights highlights that consumer awareness is now centered on doing good for the planet, with the crowning of “Shared Planet” as its Top Trend for 2022. This priority has even overtaken personal health goals, according to the market researcher.

Concentrating on “high-risk” areas
Companies like Kerry work to assess the raw materials and packaging it purchases for social and environmental risk. 

This analysis examines human rights, deforestation, animal welfare, carbon emissions, water usage and waste, among others. 

Kerry aims for paper, palm, soybean, cocoa, and coffee to be deforestation conversion-free by 2025.

“We prioritize our sustainability actions toward vendors that we see as high-risk based on a combination of raw material category and geography,” says Maarten Butselaar, responsible sourcing manager, Kerry.  

The company has identified and prioritized raw material categories that it will source 100% sustainably by 2030, at the latest. “Commodities like paper, palm, soybean, cocoa and coffee should be deforestation conversion-free by 2025,” notes Butselaar.  

The company has also set strict targets for 2025 to reduce its virgin plastic consumption used across the business by 25% and increase its volumes of recycled plastics.

Making the most out of a crop
In addition to improving sustainability at the cultivation source, tech advances such as bioconversion allow more of an ingredient to be produced with less crop. 

Steviol glycoside expert Sweegen notes that the stevia plant produces only trace amounts of the best tasting molecules. Demand for natural sugar-reduction solutions has significantly driven demand for the health-haloed, zero-calorie sweetener. 

Sweegen’s bioconversion process begins with stevia leaves. Basic plant extracted steviol glycosides are converted to better-tasting molecules such as Rebs M, D and E with the support of enzymes. 

“This production process is similar to the maturation process that occurs naturally in the stevia leaf. The final product is a single purified steviol glycoside.” 

Plant identity
Not all next-generation stevia varieties are created equally, flags Ana Arakelian, head of public relations and communications at Sweegen. 

“When you are moving away from plant extraction for sustainability reasons, the test is how close are you to the plant identity?” 

The best-tasting stevia molecules occur in trace amounts in the stevia leaf.Cargill and DSM’s joint venture Avansya produces EverSweet stevia sweetener from sucrose or dextrose sourced from sugar cane or non-GM corn. 

The industry giants affirm their fermentation-based method is more environmentally sustainable than bioconversion from stevia leaves. A report earlier this year suggested EverSweet produces a 60 percent lower carbon footprint and requires 70 percent less land than bioconverted Reb M. 

Ethical translates into environmental 
Many companies have incorporated ethical or humanitarian goals into their sustainability efforts, going beyond the environment alone. 

At Uelzena, the sustainability agenda includes economic and social goals such as “competitive milk payout,” “regional procurement” and “voluntary work and youth development at its production locations.”

Animal welfare also plays a direct role in environmental sustainability, points out Gewecke at Uelzena. 

“Healthy and long-living cows with a high milk yield have a very positive effect on the greenhouse gas balance.”

“This also applies to good quality basic fodder, with a low proportion of imported soy without a sustainability certificate,” he adds.   

Impact of end products
DSM’s Food Specialties’ side of the business is emphasizing plant-based nutrition as part of its 2030 commitment to reach 150 million people with nutritious, sustainable foods. This ambition comprises the company’s efforts to explore new protein sources outside the conventional soy crop.

“We plan to meet this target by continuously innovating and accelerating DSM solutions for sustainably produced plant-based foods and beverages that provide a genuinely tasty and nutritious alternative to meat, fish or dairy.” 

DSM is putting increased efforts on plant-based foods to reduce its environmental impact.The company is also investing to scale up canola-based protein to enhance a wide range of vegan and vegetarian products – from meat and dairy alternatives to beverages.

Arakelian adds that “sustainability includes not only environmental concerns, but also the overall social impact of our products.”

“The purpose of Sweegen’s product portfolio is to help consumers live better by helping them reduce their consumption of sugar.” 

Opportunities on the farm
There are many ways agriculture can be addressed to support sustainability. 

Butselaar notes that “although the environmental impact from agriculture is increasingly clear, it plays a vital social and economic role and is essential for food security.”

“Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty and is central to ensuring we can feed a population of almost 10 billion people by 2050.”

DSM is also working to improve farming practices with its commitment to support the livelihoods of 500,000 smallholder farmers across its value chains by 2030. 

“These collaborative efforts will help us reduce environmental impact, ensure good socio-economic standards for larger – as well as smallholder – farms and protect public health,” says Fang Xie, global director procurement at DSM. 

Local sourcing also plays a role. Germany-based Uelzena sources its raw milk regionally from within a 150 km radius around its plant locations and is involved in a pilot project on milk’s carbon footprint. 

The cooperatively organized company has reduced its CO2 emissions by almost 50% since 2012.

“The topic of sustainability on the part of our customers has risen very strongly in recent years,” says Bernd Gewecke, managing director sales dairy products, ingredients and contract manufacturing, at Uelzena, a Germany-based dairy cooperative. 

“Today, sustainability questionnaires are part of the regular customer audits, in addition to the specifications, certificates and HACCP documents.”

Uelzena sources its raw milk from within a 150 km radius (Credit: Uelzena).Measuring progress 
Critical to achieving sustainability goals is measuring them along the way. 

To assist in this, DSM is part of the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative, which supports sustainable development in the value chain. 

In 2020, 351 DSM suppliers were assessed through TfS, 318 of which were re-assessments. 

“The results spoke volumes,” says Xie. “Sixty percent of these reassessed suppliers received an improved sustainability score, compared to 57% the previous year, indicating that they are engaging more than ever in sustainability.

Meanwhile, Uelzena is working on increasing measurability with a pilot dairy sustainability tool to collect data on a variety of sustainability aspects regarding its farmers’ milk production. 

“We are currently implementing a methodology to be able to concretely determine the greenhouse gas emissions of products and processes,” says Gewecke. 

“Our aim is to transparently present the environmental and climate impacts of the entire value chain.”

By Missy Green