Use Cases
Why sustainability teams are the magicians of today's food industry
Throughout this year, after speaking with over 60 sustainability teams, I’ve come to realize that the life of a sustainability lead in the food industry is anything but simple. These professionals are navigating an intricate landscape—juggling data, selecting impactful initiatives, engaging entire organizations, and ensuring compliance with an ever-growing list of regulations. All the while, they are responding to countless inquiries from customers, proving that they truly need to be magicians.
Interestingly, the roles of "sustainability" or "ESG officers" are still relatively new to many companies in the food industry. In the past, sustainability was often mistakenly linked to marketing. Today, however, we’re witnessing a shift. Experts from Quality and Finance are emerging as the new sustainability champions. Their role goes beyond just understanding a company’s impact on society and the environment; it’s also about recognizing how environmental factors impact the business itself.
The consequence is that the role of a sustainability/ESG lead is incredibly diverse, requiring a wide range of skills—from deep analytical abilities to strong communication and engagement capabilities, and everything in between.These professionals must develop a solid strategy that covers all environmental, social, and economic aspects of the business while ensuring these plans are actionable and effective.
The true challenge lies in mobilizing the entire organization. Sustainability isn’t something that can be achieved by one person or even a small team. It requires everyone’s involvement, from the CEO to the frontline workers. The sustainability lead’s role is to create alignment across the organization, ensuring that everyone works towards shared goals—whether that’s meeting new compliance demands or encouraging more sustainable practices within the supply chain.
As one sustainability lead at a major ingredient player put it, "25% of my day is spent on compliance, 25% on finding the right initiatives, and 50% still on driving awareness and engagement within the company."
A significant part of the sustainability lead’s job involves navigating a complex web of regulations. Whether it’s CSRD, EUDR, or CSDDD, these professionals need to ensure the company remains compliant without overwhelming the organization. Additionally, they must be familiar with frameworks like CDP, Ecovadis, and Global Gap, which are critical for measuring and reporting sustainability efforts.
Transparency has become a key demand from customers, investors, and other stakeholders. Sustainability leads must be prepared to provide clear, honest, and consistent answers to tough questions about the company’s environmental impact, supply chain practices, and more. This transparency builds trust and reinforces the company’s commitment to doing the right thing.
The role of a sustainability lead in the food industry is both complex and crucial. Yet, companies hiring their first ESG/Sustainability lead often don’t fully grasp this complexity. It’s not that “sustainability” is solved just by having this person on board. Their role isn’t to carry the entire responsibility of sustainability alone but to mobilize the whole organization to work towards shared goals—whether that’s tackling new compliance demands or incentivizing farmers in the value chain to adopt pesticide-free practices.
