ripple effect and a green competition throughout the supply chain.
In the food sector, drivers include traceability and risk management, factors that can impact long-term supply, safety and availability
of food. In the seafood industry, for example, major retailers like
Wegman’s and Whole Foods have committed to sourcing fish
through business practices that ensure environmentally sustainable
seafood to manage risks of food safety and overfishing. “In the food
and drink sector as a whole, the issues are really about ‘readiness,’
linked to disruption potential (crop loss and supply shortages), in-
“T“The key is getting started, figuring out a starting
point, being transparent, and taking action. Meas-
urement doesn’t need exactness to be actionable.”
creased costs related to adaptation to a changing climate and future
regulatory costs,” says Frances Way, who manages the Supply Chain
Project for the U.K.-based Carbon Disclosure Project, which includes
data from the world’s major companies on greenhouse gas emissions
and climate change-related strategies. “So many suppliers are so unprepared. For suppliers overall, the key is getting started, figuring out
a starting point, being transparent, and taking action. Measurement
doesn’t need exactness to be actionable,” said Way.
That proved to be the case for Stonyfield Farm.
Taking Action. Stonyfield Farm and its suppliers chose a starting
point and made the leap. The combined actions of the company and
its suppliers have led to positive, measurable results. Working with
Ryder truck company on distribution issues, Stonyfield Farm reduced
absolute emissions by 40 percent in the first year—without changing
trucks. The company achieved gains through energy efficiency involving truck route optimization, more efficient packing and giving feedback to drivers on speed limits and driving habits. Using these basic
concepts, hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings went straight to
the bottom line, according to Hirshberg. Stonyfield Farm also
worked with the president of its packaging supplier to fund a life-cycle analysis by the Center for Sustainable Systems. Many of the
study’s recommendations were implemented, including the elimination of the traditional plastic yogurt lid, which yielded environmental
and financial dividends. Dairy supplier issues were more complex,
but the ongoing dialogue is resulting in out-of-pocket savings and
leading to new, strategic discussions across the whole product line,
says Hirshberg. The company is looking at other product ingredients
like sugar and fruit and has started work on a “Grower Sustainability
Toolkit,” which will be made available to the organic industry upon
completion (watch for details on this in upcoming issues of Organic
Processing). This scorecard encompasses such environmental and
socioeconomic aspects as water and on-farm energy management,
biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration, labor
rights, quality of life and community impact.
Getting Started. Organic producers have an advantage over other industries addressing supply-chain
sustainability, as they are predisposed
to consider the environment and
think creatively. “With organics, you
have a trail. You know where the
product comes from. You can trace
who the farmers are,” Greiner
pointed out. “If an organic company
is just starting out in supply-chain sustainability issues, the company may
want to begin with packaging or transportation. Find areas of common
business benefit and look for cost savings early.”
Greiner also suggested that companies pursuing a path of supply-chain
sustainability think in terms of continuous improvement and collaboration.
Applying a “
what-gets-measured-gets-managed” approach allows a company to adjust its business practices
and create a win-win situation for itself and its suppliers. “It is important
to realize that it is a journey, a multi-year effort, that matures over time,”
says Greiner.
Encouraging Sustainability in the
Business World: The Creation of
“Climate Counts”
Through its own sustainability
journey, along with learning of the
worsening climate science news from
the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and
other sources, Stonyfield Farm felt
the need to spearhead the launch of a
nonprofit initiative called Climate
Counts.
Climate Counts.org was created to
promote a business-friendly roadmap
to what it refers to as “corporate climate responsibility” (CCR). The idea
behind the initiative, the brainchild
of Gary Hirshberg, chairman, president, and CEO, was to get business
and consumers involved in collaborating on climate change, linking corporate and supply-chain sustainability to
a broader set of stakeholders.
