According to a new study led by the UN agriculture agency, presented at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow recently, food processing, packaging, transport, household consumption and waste disposal are pushing the food supply chain to the top of the greenhouse gas emitters list. Many brands are working towards reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in a bid to be conscientious about the environmental impact. A brand’s carbon footprint initiative may soon become an important point of differentiation.
In its analysis, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) maintains that the food supply chain in many countries is on course to overtake farming and land use as the largest contributor to greenhouse gases from the agri-food system.
Moreover, unrelated farm activities and land-use changes currently account for more than half of the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced from agri-food systems in some regions while in developing countries over the past three decades, it has more than doubled.
“The most important trend since 1990, highlighted by our analysis, is the increasingly important role of food-related emissions generated outside of agricultural land, in pre and post-production processes along food supply chains, at all scales. This has important repercussions for food-relevant national mitigation strategies, considering that until recently these have focused mainly on reductions of non-CO2 within the farm gate, and on CO2 from land use change”, says Maximo Torero, Chief Economist, FAO.
Carbon neutrality for F&B industry
The need for a more sustainable food and beverage (F&B) sector is highly evident and urgent. On the supply side alone, the food sector via agriculture consumes roughly 200 exajoule of energy per year globally. Furthermore, the food system is the largest user of land on the planet, with vineyards alone occupying about 7.5 million hectares of land, and cereals cultivated across 700 million hectares of land.
At present, many global F&B companies are pledging to go carbon neutral by 2050. Their approach utilises ‘Science Based Techniques’, an initiative that helps corporations set their own climate change goals aligned to the Paris agreement (a legally binding international treaty on climate change), predominantly to ensure the reduction in GHG emissions.
For instance, Nestle is pledging to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. A few of the ways the company is achieving this includes supporting farmers and suppliers to advance regenerative agriculture, planting 20 million trees for the next 10 years, and transitioning to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025.
On the other side, Coca-Cola is pledging to reduce GHG emissions by 25 per cent across its entire value chain by 2030, as well as to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Furthermore, PepsiCo plans to reduce absolute GHG emissions across its direct operations by 75 per cent and its indirect value chain by 40 per cent by 2030. This action is expected to result in the reduction of more than 26 million metric tonnes of GHG emissions or the equivalent of taking more than five million cars off the road for a full year.
While on one hand, multiple companies are pledging for carbon neutrality in the years to come, there are a few global players that have already achieved this goal. Canada-based Maple Leaf Foods became the world’s first major carbon neutral food company in 2019. Despite being an animal protein company, it has reduced around 86 million kilowatt hours of electricity and over 4.3 million cubic metres of natural gas since 2015. It has avoided carbon-intensive activities, such as building new processing plants in areas with little access to renewable resources, invested in renewable energy and natural gas and found other ways to embrace a more circular economy approach.
Owned by Taylors of Harrogate, Yorkshire Tea became carbon neutral after five years of supply chain projects in 2020. The top-selling UK tea brand produces over five billion tea bags per year and exports to 28 countries. In addition, US-based Bread Alone has been working towards carbon neutrality since it was founded in 1983, and in 2019, it partnered with Climate Neutral to purchase carbon credits to offset its footprint.
“Among food and drink processing activities, energy and related greenhouse gas emissions are very heterogeneous. Food canning is very steam intensive, with boilers using 70 per cent of the activity energy; baking requires large ovens using 60 per cent of the activity energy; frozen and chilled foods have large refrigeration loads using 60 per cent of the activity energy; and flour milling plants have large electrical loads using 80 per cent of the activity energy. Chilling and freezing uses a monumental amount of energy. It has been estimated that although only 40 per cent of foods require refrigeration, refrigerators and freezers consume roughly 15 per cent of global electricity”, mentions Dr Benjamin K. Sovacool, Professor of Energy Policy, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
India lights the way to carbon neutrality
India has been one of the primary signatories of the Paris Agreement. In November 2020, 24 top private companies including Adani, Reliance, TATA, Mahindra, Ambuja Cements, Sun Pharma, etc. signed a declaration on climate change pledging to voluntarily move towards carbon neutrality. In fact, Infosys was the first Indian company to adopt carbon neutrality while recently Mumbai became the first South-Asian city to devise a climate action plan to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Amongst food companies, ITC is a significant player proclaiming climate goals while aiming for clean energy usage. It aims to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in specific emissions and a 30 per cent reduction in specific energy consumption by 2030. The company plans to implement large-scale digitalisation, and enter into cross-sectoral collaborations and partnerships to decarbonise its energy consumption.
Recently, Bira 91, an Indian craft beer brand manufactured by New Delhi-based B9 Beverages, has announced ‘Mission To Zero’, its ambition to become India’s first Net Zero beer company by 2025.
On this development, Ankur Jain, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bira 91, says, “We are investing in our manufacturing and supply chain to ensure that our breweries reach zero carbon emissions by 2025 – 5 years ahead of other global beer makers. We believe that carbon emissions are the greatest challenge being faced by this generation and are hopeful that our Mission To Zero will spark a revolution- one in which every beer made in the country is carbon neutral. To do so, we are shifting to 100 per cent clean energy; consuming 60 per cent less energy; using 50 per cent less water; and sending zero waste to landfill.”
In this fight to considerably reduce the carbon footprint, India has a vast potential and can exploit methanol to support this objective. Methanol has several advantages as a carbon-neutral fuel and can be produced using only renewable resources.
“With the ability to be produced from a wide variety of renewable feedstocks, methanol offers significant greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Compared to conventional fuels, renewable methanol can cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95 per cent on a carbon lifecycle assessment (LCA) basis. Additionally, methanol is commonly used as a fuel for industrial boilers to generate heat and steam in the processes of manufacturing, food production, pharmaceutical production, and heating industrial as well as residential buildings”, says Prakriti Sethi, Chief Indian Representative, Methanol Institute.
Another strategy that is currently being explored by the Indian food industry to achieve carbon neutrality is the shift towards plant based diet. Reports have revealed that the Indian plant-based market is expected to grow to $650-700 million by 2025. 54 per cent of the early adopters in India are familiar with plant-based meats, and nearly 80 per cent are willing to try them.
This development perfectly fits with a recent multi-institutional study that plant-based diets can reduce carbon emissions by 61 per cent. A dietary shift from animal-based foods to plant-based foods in high-income nations could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from direct agricultural production and increase carbon sequestration if the resulting spared land was restored to its antecedent natural vegetation.
Hemant Malik, Divisional Chief Executive – Foods, ITC points out “Given the growing concerns around wellness and sustainability, India has the potential to emerge as a large market for plant-based alternatives.”
The change that needs to be adopted across the country has already begun. Undoubtedly, the industrial sector being the primary contributor to carbon emissions, adoption of climate-sensitive methods is paramount but that should not imply a complete transference of responsibility to corporations and the government. We must realise a lot of the responsibility lies with individuals as well. Small changes go a long way in an attempt to save our world.
Sakura Koner
sakura.koner@mmactiv.com
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