Food system transition for food businesses
The way we produce, process and package food is unsustainable on various fronts. Governments, industries and individuals are taking steps to accelerate the food transition and ensure resilience as global populations grow. But what is the food transition and what are some impactful steps food businesses (HORECA & retail) can take to successfully join the movement?
Key learnings from this article:
The food system transition, explained and what it means for food businesses
The key to successfully join the move towards a better food system
Practical steps food businesses can take to accelerate the food system
The food system transition is the industry-wide process of redesigning and evolving the way we source, produce, consume & discard food.
The aim is to ensure that we shift to a working model that doesn’t cause more climate damage and social inequalities. A model that works with nature and is inclusive of all people to participate and succeed i.e. a win-win for all parties involved: nature, people and business.
So what does this mean for food businesses?
The business of food is complex, competitive and risky. When we interviewed SMEs across the Netherlands about their sustainability goals, it was no surprise that the resounding response was that they would deal with this later as they had enough challenges to deal with now.
“I need to get through my current challenges
and figure it [sustainability] out later”
“We’ve made a few simple changes but the rest is too
complicated and potentially expensive for us now”
It’s completely fair. The cost of everything is rising and sustainability seems to be a minefield of complexity and contradictions; an additional challenge that no one needs right now. Or is it?
In reality, there are some very simple changes and principles food businesses can implement immediately to turn this into an opportunity. At the end of the day, the point of all this is to create a model that works for businesses and not against them.
Evolution is a key part of any business that wants to stay relevant and successful for years to come and that’s exactly what the food transition is: An opportunity for the food industry to evolve. An opportunity to be more efficient, waste less and thrive.
Pop Quiz:
What % of food is wasted after it has left the farm?
A. 17% - Enough to feed 691 million hungry people every year
B. 25% - Enough to feed 1.02 billion hungry people every year
C. 31% - Enough to feed 1.26 billion hungry people every year
Find the answer at the end of this article
So what’s the key to all this?
The special sauce to successfully building a sustainable food business is made by mixing flexibility, iteration and creativity. Set achievable goals, test new approaches, be honest about the outcomes and learn from both successes and failures.
Sephora didn’t become the world’s largest beauty retailer by playing it safe, they continuously launch new products and services. Some fail and some succeed, but they all provide learnings that pay off in the long run.
So take a step back, think about the impact your business decisions will have beyond a sales peak this quarter. Continuous and gradual growth will lead to far greater returns than short term decisions that push for momentary wins.
Great, what about some practical tips?
Glad you asked! Now that you see opportunity in the food transition, here are some great principles we learnt over the years.
Reconnect to food and build more collaborative supply chains
Over industrialisation of food has created a big rift between food processors, consumers and suppliers. Most of us are unfamiliar with the seasonality of produce, what grows in our own backyards and tend to throw away perfectly usable parts of our produce because we don’t know what to do with it.
Collaborating with producers as partners is key to creating tasty, nutritious and creative food that will attract consumers and make you memorable. By building a direct relationship with producers and collaborating with them you’ll be able to:
Understand produce seasonality & discover tasty ingredients native to your local area
Learn how to use parts of your produce that you aren’t sure what to do with
Identify opportunities to incorporate forgotten or non-typical ingredients to your recipes
“One of the great ironies of modern food systems is that they’ve made the very thing they promised to make easier much harder and distanced us from our most important relationship… that of us and nature and made us dependent on systems that only they can deliver” - Carolyn steel
Military precision and curious discovery create the best kitchens
The kitchen has always been a magical source of discovery and creativity across cultures. Tapping into the wealth of knowledge gathered across cultures and handed down for generations can lead to paths of discovery that unlock creativity in the kitchen. Fermentation, for example and contrary to popular belief, is not a recent discovery led by health gurus or kombucha producers but rather a centuries old technique that is going through its own renaissance … and the world is loving it!
However, the magic in the kitchen is of no use without a laser sharp precision approach to operational efficiency:
Yield management - Maximising what you get out of a product
Stock management - Ensuring the right flow of goods in and out of the kitchen so as to avoid spoilage
Waste management - Avoiding waste where possible and composting before recycling or sending to landfill
Otherwise, you risk wasting good produce which means that you waste all the resources, time and effort that went into it … and your own money. Think about what you waste and why. Are portion sizes too big? Are you not sure how to cook that part of the fish? Were you just told that onion skins were useless but you don’t know why?
“Waste is a failure of the imagination” - Douglas McMaster, Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint
Rethink how you serve food & design an experience beyond consumption
We all want to eat delicious food but a truly memorable experience goes beyond the food alone. It encompasses the (i) medium/packaging in which the food is served , (ii) the moment at which it is consumed, (iii) the principles your customers live by…All of which can affect your customers’ perception of the experience you provide.
In a world where consumers frown upon excessive packaging and so many innovative solutions are being created, food and design can finally unite, a whole discipline was created to fuel innovation in this space. So…
Reach out to packaging producers and think along with them, you’d be surprised how many are open to chat
Don’t be afraid to test out new packaging solutions & get customer feedback, they usually react positively when asked to help
Think about the bigger picture and how you can design the experience beyond just eating your product
“Food Design Thinking is the process that triggers creativity & leads to innovative, meaningful and sustainable propositions for new dishes, food products, food events, food services, food systems, and anything in between” - Dr. Francesca Zampollo
Tell a compelling story and invite your customers on the journey
The key to any successful brand is an engaging story. It’s the ability to make a customer dream of the experiences you can provide and what truly builds a loyal customer base. Yet, although we can all relate to food, food businesses seldom try to build engaging, meaningful and lasting relationships with customers.
There is no better success story in food than Oatly, which existed for 20+ years before uncovering the magic of storytelling and becoming a household name. By creating a unique brand identity and engaging the public on relevant topics, Oatly became to oat milk what Kleenex is to tissues… the go to name for a whole product range.
Now don’t be intimidated by their success, any business can do this as long as you know your customers…like really know them, what they like, what they care about and what makes them tick… and the best way to do that is by:
Talking directly with them (online & offline) asking for their feedback and thoughts
Connecting with them through the values you, as a brand, share with them, as humans
Treating them as partners
This will ultimately tap into deeper levels of human needs and behaviours which is a foolproof way to cut through the competition, build trust and grow a loyal customer base for years to come.
“Marketing is about values. It's a complicated and noisy world, and we're not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know about us.” - Steve Jobs
The opportunity food has been waiting for is here!
It’s such an exciting time to be in food. Innovations are popping up across the supply chain, consumers are demanding tastier, more nutritious food and creative food concepts are growing in HORECA and retail alike. Industrialisation of our food system was a pivotal moment in history and today we’re defining its future. We all have a role to play in building a future in which nature, people and businesses can thrive together.
We hope you’re just as excited as we are to be part of it!
Pop quiz answer
C : 31% - Enough to feed 1.26 billion hungry people every year