Latin American Summit Debates Sustainable Food Issues
London - The fifth Latin American edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit (https://sustainablefoodssummit.com/lamerica/index.htm) drew to a successful close a few weeks ago. Over 100 executives convened in São Paulo to discuss sustainability issues facing the regional food industry.
Carla Tennenbaum from Ideia Circular Brazil kicked off the summit with a keynote on the circular economy. According to Carla, the food industry is the largest in the world, employing over 1 billion people. However, the food industry has moved away from nature and is focusing on large-scale production. It is a major contributor of greenhouse gases, the largest user of single-use plastics, and is causing about 39 million hectares of soil degradation each year. To make the move to a circular economy, she called for regenerative agriculture, sourcing locally, healthier food, and less food waste.
The opportunities with plant-based foods were highlighted. Thiago Guerra Diniz, Managing Partner of Tensei, explained how alternative proteins are evolving. His company is marketing plant-based foods with similar texture to meat proteins. Gustavo Guadagnini from the Good Food Institute said technology is changing the food landscape. He believes cultivated meat will meet the protein needs of a growing global population. Seminars were also given from the Vegetarian Society and Veganismo Brasil on the growth of the vegetarian and vegan movements in Latin America.
An update was given on the organic food market in Latin America and Brazil. According to Cobi Cruz from Organis Brazil, 19% of Brazilians are now regular buyers of organic products. Health reasons were cited as major reason to buy organic foods, stated by 79% of respondents. Organic vegetables & fruit were the most popular organic products. Carrefour showed how it is setting up supply chains for organic foods; it stated that organic food sales had increased by 50% in 2018 and that it now had 1,120 items. Alexandre Harkaly gave an update on global organic trade agreements. He showed how Brazil was losing out on global trade since it did not have trade agreements with the major markets of Europe and North America.
Augusto Freire from FoodChain ID showed how the burning of the Amazon was linked to agriculture. Rising prices of agricultural commodities were causing deforestation, with much of the land cleared for beef and soya production. He called for traceability and chain of custody to ensure sustainable production of commodities. The ProTerra Foundation gave an update on sustainable soya production; there was a call for higher adoption rates since certified products have just 2% percent share of global soya production. Aisla Rutkowski from Roquette gave details on how pea proteins are being used as soya alternatives in food applications.
Since plastic pollution is a major environmental issue, a number of green packaging solutions were highlighted. TetraPak showed how it is using renewable materials to help contribute to a low-carbon circular economy. Futamura gave details on how it is creating compostable packaging from cellulose-based biopolymers. Fabio Thomazelli from Sealed Air highlighted the role of packaging in food preservation and waste reduction. Heineken gave insights into how it is reducing the carbon footprint of its glass beer bottles. It is working with Brazilian retailers to encourage the return and recycling of its bottles. Henrique Guilherme Brammer Junior of Boomera proposed many solutions to help the industry move away from single-use packaging; these include circular supply chains, lifespan expansion, barter systems, and providing packaging as a service.
The 5th Latin American edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit raised further questions about sustainability; these include.
- What does sustainable food mean: eco-labelled / organic, ethical, lower environmental impact, and / or plant-based?
- What is the role of animals in a sustainable food system? Does sustainable production mean rearing livestock according to organic / humane / free-range practices? Or, should they not have a role as vegans advocate?
- What can be done to translate consumer awareness into sustainable product purchases? Various studies show that Brazilian consumers are concerned about environmental issues, however sustainable food sales are lagging compared to many other countries.
- How can we raise adoption rates of sustainable packaging materials? The number of sustainable food products is increasing, however almost still use plastic packaging.
- Agriculture and the food industry is a major cause of greenhouse gases, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and plastic pollution. How can operators help resolve these issues by moving to circular systems?
The 2020 editions of the Sustainable Foods Summit will look to address such questions.
North American edition 22-23 January, San Francisco
Asia-Pacific edition 30-31 March, Singapore
European edition 11-12 June, Amsterdam
Latin American edition 25-26 November, São Paulo
About the Sustainable Foods Summit
The aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues in a high-level forum. The 5th Latin American edition took place in São Paulo on 29-30th November. More information is available from www.sustainablefoodssummit.com
The Latin American summit in pictures:
http://www.sustainablefoodssummit.com/lamerica/gallerynov2019/summitpics.htm
About Ecovia Intelligence
Ecovia Intelligence (formerly known as Organic Monitor) is a specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on global ethical product industries. Since 2001, we have been encouraging sustainable development via our services portfolio: market research publications, business & sustainability consulting, technical research, seminars & workshops, and sustainability summits. Visit us at www.ecoviaint.com
Source: WorldPressOnline
