Developing Sustainability as a Core Competency

Alistair Mowat

Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek –The high water mark for the Roman Empire

Energy to supply grain > Energy content of grain

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Corn

Milk

Cheese

Eggs

Apples

Chicken

Pork

Beef

v

Adapted From http://truecostblog.com/

The Energy Efficiency of Modern Food Production

Energy Content of Food / Energy Used To Produce Food(%)

Foo

d T

ype

(adapted from Zadek, 2004)

Greater Risk to Corporate

Greater Opportunity for Corporate

Emerging Consolidated

Maturity of an Issue in Society

Defensive

Strategic

Compliant

Resp

onse

of

a C

orpo

rate

to

an

Iss

ue

Latent

The Maturity of an Issue in SocietyShould Influence a Company’s Response

ZESPRI® KIWIGREEN

The ZESPRI ® KIWIGREEN System was developed in the

1990‟s as an ecologically friendly integrated pest

management programme that uses integrated pest &

disease control methods where possible

The amount of pesticides

applied to over 12,100ha has been

reduced by ~100 tonnes per year

19 May, 2008

“ Green pedicure … these metrics bring to light the broad but subtle implications inherent to various activities. Paying for them is another matter.

“… water would be on every agenda in sourcing food.”

"We've now set ourselves the ambitious target of becoming the world's most sustainable retailer by 2051, so that we lead the way in making a positive contribution to the environment and society across everything we do and everything we sell.”

“You asked us to find ways to make it easy to identify the carbon footprint of your shopping. So in 2008, we joined forces with the Carbon Trust to test a new label on some of our products.”

Low High

Low

Hig

h

Motivation to Understand Product Footprint

Kno

wle

dge

of

Prod

uct

Foo

tpri

nt

• Consumer & Customer

• Producer

Compliance &“Market-

competitive” forces NGO’s raising

awareness &“Guilt-free” Consumption

Product Service

Ta

ng

ible

Inta

ng

ible

The Evolution of Value Creation

ZESPRI Environmental Footprint

Innovation Projects

Environmental

Indicator

Quantify Our

Footprint

Assess Our

Risks &

Opportunities

Adapt Our

Business

“Do it Better”

than Our

Competitors

Greenhouse

Gas Emissions√ √ •

Non-renewable

Resources

• •

Water•

Waste√ √ •

Biodiversity•

•

Adapted from Lash & Wellington, 2007

Understanding and Reducing our

Environmental Footprint

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

• Carbon footprint scoping study completed

• Impact of growing practises on soil carbon.

• Collaborating with partners across the supply chain

Non-renewable Resources

• Production of renewable energy from biogas & recovery of nutrients.

Waste• Conversion of waste kiwifruit into bio-

composite & bio-plastic

Water• Quantification of our water footprint and

identification of water stewardship options

Biodiversity • Ongoing research to understand and utilise biodiversity on kiwifruit orchards.

Understanding our GHG Impact- ZESPRI GREEN Kiwifruit Shipped to the UK

The polystyrene Spife improves the convenience of eating kiwifruit but contributes up to 3% of the carbon footprint for ZESPRI branded kiwifruit and can be inconvenient for disposal

Consumer Value

Cost Efficiency

Public

Good

Bio-composite Spife’s Manufactured from Bio-plastics & Waste Kiwifruit

„Growing It‟ - On OrchardInnovation: Catalyst for Climate Change Response

• Major soil carbon study underway

• Focus orchard network - best practice

dissemination

• Climate change adaptation

• New product development

• New growing techniques

• Yield gains with reduced inputs

• Organic learning transfer

An SFF Project: COST [Carbon in Orchard Soils Team]

Young orchard(10 yrs)

Old orchard

Deep Sequestration Agents:• Roots• Worms

• Young orchard ~ 139 t-C/ha: Old ~ 145 t-C/ha

Old orchard(25 yrs)

„Packing It‟ – Packhouse & CoolstoreInnovation: Catalyst for Climate Change Response

• Energy Efficiency

• Lean Manufacturing – „The Toyota Way‟

• Waste minimisation/ utilisation

• Bio-plastics initiative

• Bio-Fuel feedstock

• Packaging; recyclable/ re-

usable/compostible

„Delivering It‟ – TransportInnovation: Catalyst for Climate Change Response

• Routing/ Hubbing

• Pack Optimisation

• Speed optimisation

• Optimal Temperature

management

• Bio-fuels

Branding can Mask a Companies Environmental Performance from Consumers ... Till Now

New Scientist, 2010

Supply Driven Knowledge Intensive Solutions

Demand Driven Knowledge Intensive Solutions

Response to Sustainability/Climate Change will Depend on a Company’s Orientation

2008 ARGOS Survey Data

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0Very important

Neither important or unimportant

Very unimportant

N = 52

Evaluating Consumer Value Drivers and the Various Components of The Value Chain Environmental Footprint

Perc

eived V

alue t

o Con

sumer

Contribution to Value Chain Environmental Footprint

Transport

Packaging

New Cultivars

Plant Supporting Structures

High

High

Low

Adapted from Fearne, 2009

Integrate Consumer Value Drivers with the Value Chain Environmental Footprint to Better Target R& D Investment and Partnerships with Government

Perc

eived V

alue t

o Con

sumer

Contribution to Value Chain Environmental Footprint

Strong partnerships with government & chain partners are needed to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts

Develop cautious strategies that are strongly managed by ZESPRI to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts without adversely impacting on consumer value

Continue to find and exploit low environmental impact opportunities to add value to our products

Not a significant concern

High

High

Low

Strategic Response to Climate Change

Increasing our Climate Change Competitiveness(Maintaining or Stimulating Demand)

Dece

asing

Our

Vulne

rability

to C

limate

Risk

(Sec

uring

Sup

ply)

Adapted from Nidumolu et al., 2009

Thank youFor more information please contact;

alistair.mowat@zespri.com