The threat of contamination can be disastrous for both public health and businesses, thus prompting companies of all sizes to focus on sustainability initiatives designed to ensure the health of the entire food and beverage ecosystem.
Aberdeen Group, Sustaining the Global Food Supply Chain, January 2009
In their research preview, which noted that global food production, processing, distribution, and retailing have never been under greater scrutiny by both regulators and consumers than they are today and that their upcoming study will explore pressure points, planned actions, and best practices in supply chain management, Aberdeen points out that thought leading food and beverage companies have taken on aggressive goals to ensure end-to-end visibility and quality, reduce negative impacts on the environment, and enhance positive change on society through frameworks of shared value.
But sustainability requires organizations to change and innovate in fundamental ways and represents, in and of itself, a sea change in the way society views the role of business and the centrality of business ethics. And in this economy, despite the need, not many companies are changing. This is a disturbing thought when you take into account that last year, global food reserves reached fifty, if not one hundred, year lows and that global shipping is currently responsible for 4.0% of all global climate change emissions due to an utter lack of regulatory requirements compared to the automative and trucking industries.
So can we sustain the global food supply chain?