How can feed companies identify sustainability risks within their own supply chains and what are suitable strategies to mitigate or minimize such risks? Andy Green, sustainability expert at certification body FoodChain ID Certification Europe, is running a workshop for FoodChain ID Europe in August that looks to provide answers to those questions. The event will assess how companies can go about creating an ethical business culture, it will address NGOs and market pressures, and the value of transparency compared to traceability in the supply chain.

“Companies can’t afford to react after something happens. They have to be proactive, and know the risks in their supply chains, and know what they can do with their suppliers to reduce risk,” said Green. Ideally, delegates of the FoodChain ID Europe event will go back to their companies, and then map their businesses from a risk point of view, such as whether there could be forced labor or deforestation in certain supply chains.

“We won’t be looking at specific crops or commodities, some examples perhaps, but we will be evaluating hypothetical organizations and various risk assessment and mitigation models.” There is a massive amount of pressure on the industry to provide high protein feed while minimizing the environmental impacts and eliminating deforestation linked to the soy, palm and beef industries. Pressure is coming from a whole range of stakeholders today on sustainability commitments, not just from NGOs. Investors and even staff in the company itself are demanding action, he said.

Additional drivers, such as the Modern Slavery Act in the UK, call on industry to ensure supply chains do not have negative humanitarian impacts, meaning that the feed industry needs to be able to understand what impact its inputs are having on these important areas, continued Green. “The deforestation footprint of feed manufacturers is becoming a significant issue and they will need to address it,” he said.

Allocation of places to attend the event on 22nd August are restricted to food industry professionals only.

For more information and for registration details please click here to visit the event website.

To read the full article by Jane Byrne, please visit FeedNavigator