Assessment of Food Company Commitments and Practices Regarding Environmental Sustainability

The private sector has an important role in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and on reducing the environmental impacts of the food system. Existing benchmarking initiatives, such as the Food and Agriculture Benchmark and Behind the Brands, contribute to the accountability of the food industry, although no specific benchmark for Australian food and beverages companies on sustainability exists. To fill this gap, INFORMAS1 developed the BIA (Business Impact Assessment) Sustainability framework, aiming to assess companies on their commitments and progress on Packaging, Greenhouse gas emissions, Energy, Water, Biodiversity, Food loss and waste, Environmental compliance, Animal sourced food, as well as their overarching sustainability strategy and relationships with other organisations. This study aimed to pilot test and refine the tool against national and global standards, and to apply it to benchmark the comprehensiveness, specificity and transparency of environmental related policies and practices of major food companies in Australia. Major Australian companies were selected across the food and beverage manufacturing, retail, and quick-service restaurant sectors. Companies were scored using the refined BIA Sustainability tool, with final environmental scores ranging from 2 to 58 out of 100 (median: 31). Companies demonstrated having stronger commitments compared with actual reporting practices associated with those commitments. The greenhouse gas emissions domain scored the highest, averaging 55 out of 100 for all companies, while water and animal sourced products domains scored lowest, averaging 15 and 19 out of 100, respectively. These results reflect considerable variability in company reporting practices, representing the BIA-Sustainability tool as valuable to monitor food company performance. Domain-specific results present areas for further research, development, and implementation. Future refinements of the framework will likely be necessary as new methodologies and reporting standards evolve at both national and global levels.