Sustainability stats are pretty sobering.
- The US food industry is responsible for producing approximately 14.5 million tons of plastic every year.
- Food production accounts for 25% of the greenhouse gases produced globally.
- One whole third of food produced globally is lost or goes to waste.
We have to hold our hands up. The CPG industry is a key contributor to the climate crisis.
But (time for the silver lining), this means that by adapting processes and by creating sustainable CPG products, CPG brands stand to make a real difference.
As we’ll see below, there are a number of things you can do to make your CPG more sustainable.
The ideas on this list interconnect with one another. For example, reducing food waste helps to reduce water usage. And regenerative agriculture can help a company to achieve their net-zero targets.
If you’re on a mission to do right by our planet, using one or a combination of these ideas will help you to lessen your impact.
This is good for the conscience, but also for long-term supply chain security and those all-important sales.
7 ways to make a CPG product sustainable
Plant-based
A plant-based product doesn’t contain anything that comes from an animal.
So it’s free from meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy ingredients. And it may include any of the following: fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, and/or spices.
The sustainability benefit?
According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, meat and dairy consumption accounts for around 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Beef products are a particular problem.
That’s because cows produce methane, a greenhouse gas. And because forests, which can capture carbon from the atmosphere, are being cleared to create pasture for these animals.
Some examples
Non-dairy milk, veggie burgers, and nut-based cheese are just some of the plant-based CPG products you’ll now find on grocery store shelves.
And Good Catch Foods is a plant-based CPG brand leading the way. These guys make great-tasting crab cakes, fish sticks, salmon burgers, and fish fillets — all made with 0% fish.
Waste conscious
A waste-conscious CPG aims to do at least one of the following things:
- Design and use sustainable or reusable packaging (the type that doesn’t end up in landfill)
- Create products using the waste that comes from other production methods
- Use its own food waste to create compost
Basically, they aim to reuse and recycle, promoting a circular supply chain and creating less waste.
The sustainability benefit?
Eight million tons of plastic waste ends up in our oceans every year.
Here it breaks down into micro-plastics (tiny pieces of plastic), that pose a threat to wildlife, the food chain, and possibly, to human health too.
The US food industry is part of the problem, producing approximately 14.5 million tons of plastic waste in 2018 alone.
Another waste problem? According to the UN, almost a third of all food produced is discarded. This means the environmental cost of producing these foods was all for nothing.
Some of the responsibility for this staggering figure lies with consumers. But CPG brands can also do their bit to reduce the amount of food wasted during the production process.
Some examples
As well as creating compostable packaging — and offering products on a refill basis — some CPG brands are choosing to put waste to good use.
Take The Ugly Co., for example.
This sustainable CPG brand takes “ugly” fruit — stuff that would usually be thrown away — and transforms it into dried and diced fruit snacks. Each pack prevents 2.5lbs of fruit from going to waste.
Low carbon/net zero
A low-carbon company works to minimize its carbon emissions (across the whole of its operations and supply chain). That might mean working to beat the industry benchmark.
Some companies go even further and strive to achieve net zero (a neutral carbon output).
Often this means reducing their own carbon footprint, whilst funding initiatives that offset the carbon they’re still responsible for producing.
The sustainability benefit?
Carbon emissions contribute to global warming and climate change.
If we don’t reduce the amount of carbon that we’re pumping out into the atmosphere, global temperatures are expected to rise further than they already have, causing irreparable damage to the planet.
The US has pledged to be net zero by 2050. Many companies have pledged to reach net zero by an even earlier date.
When we consider that food production accounts for an incredible 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, this is an important step towards sustainability.
Some examples
Energy drink company, Riff, does a number of things in the name of sustainability.
They’ve partnered with a reforestation charity. And they use what has traditionally been a waste product of coffee bean farming to create their energy drinks.
Together, their sustainability efforts have seen them certified as a carbon-neutral brand by Carbonfund.org.
Regenerative farming
Modern, industrial farming practices don’t always work harmoniously with nature. Regenerative farming is a type of sustainable farming that aims to improve soil quality and biodiversity.
Minimal soil disturbance, improving the diversity of crops grown, and reintroducing nutrients back into the soil are just some of the methods regenerative farmers use.
The sustainability benefit?
Regenerative farming helps to create more resilient ecosystems. This reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (which contribute to a number of different environmental problems).
Reduced tilling also means that more carbon stays stuck in the soil, rather than being released into the atmosphere.
Some examples
Understanding that 60% of their carbon emissions were produced by farming, General Mills have set out to make their agricultural processes more sustainable.
The company has pledged to advance regenerative agriculture on one million acres of farmland by 2030.
Alternative ingredients
Insects. Lupin flower. Edible algae. Not the first things you’d expect to see on a list of ingredients, right?
But food science innovations mean that many sustainable CPG brands are now incorporating new and alternative ingredients into their products.
The sustainability benefit?
Alternative ingredients offer the same taste and/or nutrition as food products that are bad for the environment.
Take insects, for example. Crickets and mealworms are healthy sources of protein and vitamins.
And according to a study from the University of Edinburgh, replacing half of the meat eaten worldwide with crickets and mealworms would reduce the farmland required by up to a third, reducing global carbon emissions in the process.
Some examples
Sustainable CPG Dug makes a plant-based milk. This milk is more sustainable than dairy milk. And it’s actually better for the planet than other plant-milk varieties, such as soy, almond, or oat.
Dug milk is made from potatoes. It requires 56 times less water than almond milk and has a 75% smaller carbon footprint than dairy milk production.
Water stewardship
Global agriculture currently uses 70% of the planet’s freshwater supplies. Meanwhile, thanks to population growth and climate change, parts of the world are already at risk of water scarcity.
Water stewardship means taking responsibility for the water your brand uses, and trying to use less of it.
The sustainability benefit?
Water scarcity affects more and more people around the world — and it also damages essential ecosystems.
By minimizing water use, and reducing their water footprint, sustainable CPG brands can help to preserve a precious resource.
Some examples
Coca-Cola operations use a lot of water. So it’s reassuring to see this CPG brand leading the way when it comes to water stewardship.
In 2015, Coca-Cola became the first Fortune 500 Company to replenish all of the water used in its global beverage production.
And as part of its 2030 water security strategy, the company aims to use 100% regenerative water in water-stressed areas, whilst continuing its support of clean water and sanitation projects in vulnerable communities.
Utilizing technology
In our fight for a more sustainable future, technology is set to become a really useful tool.
Innovation around food products, food packaging, and sustainability analysis means that a sustainable CPG will have an ever-increasing number of options available to them.
The sustainability benefit?
Tech is helping CPG brands to achieve all of the sustainability ideas above. But let’s take a look at two key technological advances.
Lab-grown meat isn’t available to consumers yet.
But, presuming FDA approval, this new, sustainable CPG product enables people to include meat as part of their diet, without causing so much damage to the environment.
Blockchain is also being touted as a game-changer. This decentralized, digital record of the supply chain can provide real-time sustainability data.
This helps hold each link of the supply chain accountable for their environmental impact — and gives a sustainable CPG brand the insight they need to identify poor practices and make improvements.
Some examples
Heineken conducted a blockchain pilot back in 2019. They traced five hop varieties from farm to grocery store shelves.
The blockchain was able to measure water and fuel consumption and capture the beer’s environmental footprint.
A QR code on the bottle allowed consumers to access the data and find out the impact that each individual bottle of beer had on the environment — providing the ultimate transparency.
Want more great CPG insights? Visit the Buffalo Market blog now for a forward-thinking take on the industry.
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