Sustainable Food Consumption - Business or Burden
Guests:
· Dr. Annika Schudak, CSR Consultant, imug mbH
· Mai Goth Olesen, Founder and CEO, MealSaver
· Thomas Effenberger, CEO, Effenberger Vollkornbäckerei
In Germany, 313 kilograms of food are wasted per second. Supply and demand in the food production play an important role. Businesses face the trade-off between satisfying their consumers' expectations and designing their business operations in a more sustainable way. Sustainability is often interpreted as a burden that demands financial as well as human resources. However, in more recent times, companies and consumers have realized their opportunities and responsibilities in sustainable food consumption. What does sustainable consumption mean? Why do consumers not consume sustainably? What is the motivation for consuming in a sustainable way? How big is the impact that someone can make by consuming sustainably? These were some of the questions raised at the 12th MIBAS Debates on CSR "Sustainable Food Consumption – Business or Burden?" which took place on the 2nd of May, 2017.
Three leading role models of the business world were invited to share their insights about how their companies foster the idea of sustainable food consumption and the barriers that consumers face in order to achieve this lifestyle. Dr. Annika Schudak, CRS consultant at imug mbH, presented her views both from a business and consumer perspective. Mai Goth Olesen, founder and CEO of the app MealSaver, enlightened the audience with her motivation and experience with sustainable food consumption from a start-up point of view. Thomas Effenberger, CEO of Effenberger Vollkornbäckerei, provided insights how optimizing the production helped to develop an organic whole grain bakery with a holistic sustainability approach. During the debate, the guests shared their opinions, ideas, and own experiences related to the importance of sustainable food consumption.
Mrs. Schudak emphasized the importance of re-thinking how much one consumes every day and the impact that this can cause on the environment. From his own experience, Mr. Effenberger explained how crucial it is to implement transparent and sustainable processes in the production of food and make these visible to consumers. He shared some interesting facts about his own bakery, explaining how he manages to produce only 3 percent of waste while the norm in the industry is around 20 or 30 percent. To the question, why is it difficult for individuals to consume in a sustainable way, Mrs. Olesen argued that most consumers are not aware of the concept and that the duty of companies is to provide information related to sustainable consumption. In this regards, Mrs. Schudak added that on an average consumers produce more waste than the industry. She also thinks that nowadays consumers are exposed to too many options and labels when purchasing, which makes the decision towards a sustainable product even more difficult. When talking about potential regulations in the food industry, Mrs. Olesen argued that regulations would not be the main solution for a shift towards sustainable consumption because individuals are the ones who would need to implement the changes into their own lifestyles first. Contrary to this view, Mrs. Schudak mentioned that regulations in the food industry would be a good starting point but they are not popular measures. Mr. Effenberger pointed out the role of food prices in the consumer decision process, arguing that they should be reconsidered both by industry and consumers. He warned that the food prices do not reflect the future costs of the current consumer behavior. In addition, he argued that changes should be implemented from a regional perspective instead of a global one.
Interesting topics were raised when the audience asked questions about the trustworthiness of food labels in supermarkets and best-before-date information, the impact one person can make by consuming in a sustainable way, the system of food production and if buying sustainable products makes a real impact in such a system or not. The guests focused on the importance of education and awareness and shared their optimism on the impact that only one person could make in the food chain while changing their consumption habits. The guests agreed on the crucial role of transparency in the food production processes. They commented how important it is to not only tell consumers that sustainable businesses exist, but more important to show them how the processes are implemented.
After the valuable discussion and fruitful insights, the guests and the audience reflected on the debate while enjoying some drinks and snacks together. The MIBAS Debate provided, once again, interesting views and a broad understanding regarding the implementation of sustainable practices by companies nowadays as well as the role of consumers in the value chain.