Ensuring there are always enough raw materials – such as cows on farms and fish in the sea – is important to meet customer demands.

Most companies already realize the importance of sustainability at some level. Whether it’s because they recognize and care about the environmental impact of their operations, they see opportunities to save money from more efficient use of energy or their customers are want to buy from “green” companies, businesses are now paying attention. But while there are certainly examples of individual companies that put real plans in place to achieve sustainability, the efforts across the industry have been sporadic and fractured.

In 2010, we anticipate greater collective movement toward sustainability, fueled by a growing understanding of its broad economic, environmental and social importance, as well as some very specific catalysts like the Wal-Mart Sustainability Index announced in July. (Yes, the Wal-Mart Index impacts those of us in foodservice, too…when you buy from 100,000 suppliers, your ripple effect leaves nobody untouched).

Defining Sustainability
The first step in sustainability is to understand what it means. Conservation – ensuring that there is always enough raw materials (fish in the sea, cows on farms, fresh water, etc.) to meet customer demand – is a critical initial component to sustainability. However, in 2010, the foodservice industry will adopt a more holistic definition that encompasses three dimensions:

• Environmental protection;
• Social development; and 
• Economic growth.   

This broadened view of the macro issues in sustainability will be mirrored in how companies view their own operations. For example, as a seafood processor and marketer, High Liner Foods Inc. needs to be looking at everything from emissions, energy use and recycling at our plants, to packaging and shipping materials used, to working conditions at our suppliers, to species populations and advances in fishing technologies.   

Although companies with fully formed sustainability plans will be the exception, I do expect that by the end of 2010, the vast majority of the foodservice industry will have a firm understanding of all the factors it needs to evaluate as part of a sustainability effort.
embracing transparency in sustainability

Until now, the pursuit of sustainability has been an optional endeavor, albeit one that more and more companies are choosing to embrace. In 2010, industry stakeholders will want to know that suppliers they partner with have an organization-wide sustainability plan to address key sustainability issues.

This will go beyond mere “we are committed to sustainability” statements on corporate websites (although proclaiming your commitment publicly is a great place to start). By the end of the year, having a very specific and thorough sustainability plan will be a prerequisite for doing business around the globe. As with financial reporting and marketing practices, transparency will rule the day.   

Consumer demands for sustainability will increase, too. Although they will be less interested in the specifics of sustainability plans, consumers will need a general sense of comfort or trust that companies are “doing the right thing.” In some primary research we recently did, consumers equated sustainability with notions such as “safe to eat,” “clean ingredients,” “not obviously endangered species” and “eco-friendly packaging.”

A Valuable Asset
As sustainability’s complexity and reach becomes more widely acknowledged in 2010, so, too, will the recognition that companies do not have to “go it alone.” Non-governmental organizations (NGO) can provide valuable scientific experience and expertise to help build businesses that more fully understand their environmental impact.

While companies have been working with NGOs on an ad hoc basis for a number of years – one example from the seafood industry is cooperating on individual fishery improvement projects – next year we will see many more formalized partnerships.   

Companies will engage NGOs on a strategic level, with the NGO participating in company sustainability meetings, advising on policies and serving as a liaison with the rest of the NGO community.   

In addition to providing expertise, partnering with NGOs in this way lends additional credibility to a company’s sustainability efforts in the eyes of distributors, buyers and consumers.

A Transition Year
I strongly believe that sustainability is no longer just an option; it’s the answer. By the end of 2010, any foodservice company that hopes to remain competitive will have embraced this mandate. Nobody will have all the answers, but the commitment will be real, tangible and enduring.

Bill DiMento is corporate director of sustainability at High Liner Foods Inc., a leading North American processor and marketer of superior quality seafood.