Charles Brand, Executive Vice President Processing Solutions & Equipment, Tetra Pak. — Photo courtesy of the company
Tetra Pak has launched ambitions and targets to drive the transition to more secure, sustainable and resilient food systems, harnessing the company’s leading role in the food processing and packaging industry to effect urgent change.
This builds further on the company’s lead in the Global Dairy Processing Task Force, which, as part of the ‘Pathways to Dairy Net Zero’ climate initiative, aims to explore the innovative systems and technologies needed to further drive down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in dairy processing.
Charles Brand, Executive Vice President Processing Solutions & Equipment, Tetra Pak, said "Transforming food systems is crucial for a viable future. Today, these systems are inefficient and unsustainable, responsible for over one-third (34 per cent) of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while one-third of food produced is lost or wasted. Food systems are also failing people, with nine per cent of the world's population going hungry and 30 per cent experiencing malnutrition. We cannot phase out food, but we can transform these systems to ensure they are more secure, resilient and sustainable.”
Tetra Pak has identified four key pathways to accelerate food systems transformation. The company has also established roadmaps and measurable targets for each of these pathways, aligning with the critical transitions for food and land transformation proposed by the Food and Land Use Coalition.
Enabling the transition towards more sustainable dairy, by addressing the environmental impact of dairy processing, while also supporting smallholder farmers’ productivity, profitability and livelihoods with a target of reducing GHG emissions in the company’s dairy ambient processing equipment by 50 per cent by 2030 and reaching 100,000 smallholder farmers in our Dairy Hub customer projects by 2030.
Innovating for new food sources, particularly alternative protein sources that require a less resource-intensive supply chain with a target to triple sales of plant-based and new food processing equipment and technologies by 2030.
Reducing food loss and waste by developing food processing technologies that help reduce food waste during production with a target to achieve a 50 per cent reduction of product loss in best-practice processing lines by 2030.
Scaling access to safe nutrition through sustainable food packaging, by designing and deploying sustainable food packaging solutions that preserve food quality and improve access to safe food, with a target to increase global access to safe nutritious foods through our ambient packaging solutions by two billion litres by 2030.
The announcement coincides with Tetra Pak's launch of its white paper, in collaboration with EY Parthenon, which examines what needs to happen for food systems to better sustain both people and the planet by 2040. — VNS