Sustainability in food manufacturing requires a collaborative approach to address the complex environmental challenges facing the industry. From raw materials sourcing and packaging choices to logistics and shipping, food and beverage brands must work together to overcome interconnected issues. By partnering with equipment suppliers, supply chain partners, retailers, and even competitors, brands can pool resources, align goals, and make a greater impact than they could individually. This collective effort not only accelerates progress but also fosters innovation for a sustainable future.
Design for Sustainability
A fundamental aspect of environmental sustainability in the food and beverage sector is product development and design. This encompasses everything from responsibly sourcing raw materials to selecting packaging that not only protects products and prevents food waste but also supports a circular economy.
Manufacturers may consider integrating new environmentally friendly, ethical, and alternative raw materials—such as plant-based options—into their product design and production processes. Enhancing a product’s energy efficiency to minimise costs and waste during manufacturing, as well as designing packaging that prioritises reuse and recycling, are equally vital.
Choosing the right packaging material can pose significant challenges for brands. Factors such as recyclability, reusability, compostability, overall packaging weight, and energy and water usage must all be carefully evaluated. For instance, while glass bottles might appear to be a more sustainable choice for beverages due to their recyclability, their greater weight compared to PET can substantially increase carbon emissions during transport, especially if logistics still depend on carbon-based energy sources.
Any product changes must also account for their potential ripple effects. It is essential to ensure that modifications do not disrupt production processes, such as product handling, packaging, or coding and marking, or lead to unintended consequences further along the supply chain.
While collaborating with competitor brands on design and development may seem counterintuitive from a business standpoint, working together allows companies to pool resources, influence supply chain dynamics, and ensure new initiatives align with rather than conflict with existing projects in the marketplace.
Collaboration with production suppliers and other supply chain partners is equally critical. No single company holds more than a small part of the solution. For instance, changes to packaging design proposed by one business might inadvertently create issues if recycling facilities are unable to process the materials effectively. Partnering with trusted stakeholders across the broader supply chain can foster innovative solutions while helping to avoid such pitfalls.
Improve Production Performance
Food production is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, compounded by the fact that a considerable portion of edible food never reaches consumers. According to the UK’s Waste and Resources Action Programme, 16% of all food waste occurs during manufacturing, with human error and production inefficiencies, such as manual product changeovers, being primary contributors to this loss.
When errors occur during food and beverage production, the best-case scenario involves repackaging incorrect products. However, for highly perishable goods, such as dairy, this often results in unavoidable food waste.
To address these challenges, food and beverage manufacturers should work closely with their machinery suppliers to identify sources of waste, implement measures to minimise errors, and optimise energy, time, and financial resources to maximise the output of high-quality, market-ready products. After all, the most sustainable processes are also the most efficient.
Key strategies such as automation, machine integration, and automatic vision-based quality control are no longer just industry buzzwords. These technologies are essential for addressing issues caused by human error and manual processes, reducing both food waste and operational costs.
Additionally, manufacturers can enhance efficiency by adopting real-time machine performance monitoring. By partnering with machinery suppliers, they can implement sensors and cloud-based systems tailored to detect drops in efficiency and send alerts for swift intervention before production is disrupted. Suppliers can also analyse data from connected machines to establish optimal performance baselines, ensuring smoother and more sustainable production processes.
Optimise Supply Chains
Environmentally responsible manufacturing extends beyond production to include supply chain optimisation—a vital component in achieving sustainable manufacturing. Brands should collaborate with both upstream and downstream supply chain partners, establishing systems to enhance transparency and facilitate data sharing.
During periods of high demand or when dealing with stock shortages and delays, improved demand visibility enables manufacturers to forecast lead times more accurately, manage stock levels effectively, and set realistic customer expectations.
Embedding variable product data, such as batch and product information, within scannable 2D codes is a practical way to enhance supply chain visibility. These codes improve stock management, simplify error tracing, and enable more precise data sharing throughout the supply chain. By allowing brands and their partners to track products, monitor status updates, and report lifecycle data for individual product batches, scannable codes provide critical insights into inefficiencies and areas of waste or leakage. This, in turn, helps optimise operations, strengthen resilience, and reduce the risk of food waste.
Data sharing also plays a crucial role in regulatory compliance, such as with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD requires manufacturers to monitor and report their complete carbon footprint, including Scope 3 emissions. This underscores the importance of collaboration in meeting industry standards and driving the development of environmentally sustainable solutions.
Collaboration: The Key to a Sustainable Future
Achieving a sustainable and environmentally responsible future for food and beverage production will demand global cooperation across governments, industries, and supply chains.
For manufacturers, the optimal strategy lies in collaborating with like-minded organisations and forming partnerships with suppliers who can support the implementation of sustainable practices at every stage of production.
This holistic approach not only benefits the environment but also helps brands to reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance their reputation.
