Reducing food waste is an indispensable part of climate mitigation. Whether you are a food company or not, you can be a food waste champion.

Almost every company produces food waste on-site in their cafeterias and micro-kitchens or when hosting events. This means that every business should have a food waste strategy to cut embodied carbon emissions and improve food security. Reducing waste has always been challenging and more variable office-use patterns resulting from the pandemic are complicating efforts further. It’s time to get creative. In-house operations managers and foodservice partners explain their best practices and lay out effective ways to collaborate to see results faster.

CEO and chef Miyoko Schinner cooks up plant-based meals and discusses how to mainstream vegan foods.

Scaling the adoption of plant-based foods is a critical component of better food systems. The ecosystem of startups and increasingly more mature companies in this space has never been more dynamic and versatile. As companies launch more and more plant-based ingredients, products and manufacturing technologies, two challenges arise. How will a broad consumer base make plant-based foods a standard component of their diets? And how will food companies partner with the innovation ecosystem to reformulate their products and mainstream the use of alternative ingredients? A chef, writer, activist and CEO of one of the leading companies in the industry welcomes us to her kitchen with practical tips for everyday consumers — and how to appeal to them.  

Online food ordering is booming. How can companies use digital platforms to nudge consumers toward more sustainable food purchases? 

The Covid-19 pandemic catalyzed an unparalleled growth in online shopping—food is no exception. The digital ordering platforms offer an exciting communications opportunity for brands to tell their sustainability story and nudge consumers toward better choices. But there are many potential strategies; labels, health or environmental messaging, promotions and product placements. What works best? This conversation will work to elucidate the most successful approaches for bringing sustainability to the online food marketplace.  

Discover and experiment with the sustainability tool that enables leading companies to enhance their impact — one ingredient at a time. 

Food innovators have added a new approach to their sustainability toolkit: Product databases that feature ingredient-level sustainability analysis. These powerful platforms provide superior supply chain transparency and clear metrics, allowing teams to fine-tune the social and environmental impact of their products. HowGood and leading industry innovators will describe their most inspiring and disruptive projects and let you test your sustainable product design skills in a gamified version of their tool. 

Meat demand persists despite the rise of alternative protein. What technologies and practices can lower emissions and better animal welfare? 

The availability, affordability and popularity of plant-based meat has skyrocketed in recent years. But so far the data hasn’t shown that alternative protein is replacing meat consumption. At the same time, meat demand continues to rise in the growing middle-classes of countries like China, Brazil and Mexico. Meat is going to remain part of global diets for years to come, calling for the development and deployment of technologies and farm practices that can decarbonize production while improving animal welfare. This session will highlight promising innovations such as feed additives and manure management approaches that reduce emissions and assess how they will impact the wellbeing of farm animals.  

Decarbonizing farms is essential for a 1.5° future. Consider these cutting-edge technologies to make headway on your Scope 3 targets. 

A big portion of a low-carbon future lies in the hands of farmers — and in companies’ Scope 3 emissions. A dynamic ecosystem is evolving to support farmers in revamping their operations. They promise to unlock emissions reductions by electrifying farm equipment, breeding better seeds, decarbonizing inputs and generating renewable energy. Which solutions can best help food companies decarbonize their supply chains? How can they be employed equitably and improve the wellbeing of the farmers championing them?

A VIP taste test of the world’s first cultivated salmon, accompanied by an expert discussion about sustainable seafood.

The development and deployment of technologies that enable more sustainable and ethical diets has been moving faster than expected. After consumers in Singapore added cultivated (a.k.a. lab-grown) chicken to their plates in 2020, fish is next. The founders of Wildtype indulge a lucky group of experts in a blind tasting of their first product: Lab-cultivated salmon. Learn about the technologies enabling the future of fish, how this approach will complement long-standing work on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and how your business could engage with this quickly accelerating industry.