Sourcing Sustainably – Challenges and Opportunities
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Transcript of Sourcing Sustainably – Challenges and Opportunities
Sourcing Sustainably – Challenges and Opportunities
Bring Food HomeNovember 17, 2013
Claudia SchmidtSenior Research Associate
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Background
• Number of sustainability certifications/initiatives increases – Whole farm certification – Commodity specific – Attribute specific– Customer developed
• Increasing demands by retailers and manufacturers (McCain, Unilever, Tesco etc.)
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Recent Reports
Recent studies: • Retailer/Manufacturer interviews • Review of sustainability initiatives • Farmer focus groups
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Presentation
Trends Challenges Next Steps
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EU
• Europe – Market leader in sustainability?• Retailers/manufacturers drive agenda• Germany – Organic agriculture– Whole farm sustainability schemes – Uptake – Market demand
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Canada
• Early phase • Respond in anticipation of customer demand • Nice to have vs. must have?• “Made in Ontario” commodity sustainability
certification program
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• Grain Farmers of Ontario • Pulse Canada • Grains Roundtable – Sustainability Working Group• Dairy Farmers of Canada • Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef • Canola Council of Canada• Local Food Plus • Environmental Farm Plan• …
Canada
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Challenges – Producer’s view
Confusion around three pillars of sustainability
• Environmental• Social • Economic
Cost of certification
• Audit• Record keeping• Multiple programs
Change in requests
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Challenges
• Not a competition free space • Performance measurement of
initiatives/certifications
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What about EFP?Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) is a farmer-developed educational tool to understand on-farm environmental improvements.
• Addendum • Advantages: – Accepted, known in farm community
• Disadvantages– Unknown outside of farm community– Uptake in ON vs Western Canada– Update expectations– Additions: animal welfare, labour standards
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What is Next?
Goal: reduce costs
•To protect market access and increase adoption of sustainable practices
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Funding
Investment in this project has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). In Ontario, this program is delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council.