New fashioned shopping values emerging in Britain

‘New fashioned values’ are emerging in British shoppers in these difficult economic times, according to new research from leading retailer Sainsbury’s.

Having to think more carefully and thoughtfully about household spending, especially on food has triggered a set of new, positive shopping behaviours across all socio-economic groups, says a blog on the retailer’s website.

“Our research shows a deep and widespread change has taken place with 83 percent of Sainsbury’s shoppers having changed their shopping habits in the last year.”

Shoppers are “rediscovering habits of previous generations” – making shopping lists, planning weekly meals, being creative with leftovers and preparing packed lunches. More people are choosing bargains and basic products for everyday needs, but are “enjoying the sense of deferred indulgence that comes from saving up and splashing out on special occasions.”

Sainsbury’s research has also shown that while consumers have reduced their spending, “they actually care more” with quality, integrity and sustainability increasingly becoming the drivers that shape shopping choices, as well as prudence.

“These ‘new fashioned values’ are not a passing phase but represent a fundamental change that is here to stay,” says Sainsbury’s, adding that it launched its 20×20 Sustainability Plan a year ago. The retailer believes its commercial success will continue to depend on continuing to meet and anticipate its customers’ changing needs.

“We can’t do this alone and need the industry, our suppliers and other experts to radically re-examine our ways of doing things, to help meet some of our targets such as doubling the amount of British food we sell and increasing the sales of fairly traded products to £1 billion.”

Market researchers Mintel had analysed Sainsbury’s customer behaviour and reported the findings. The result, a factsheet  The rise of new fashioned values’shows that the results span all socio-economic demographics. The research showed that 83 percent of people have changed their shopping habits in response to squeezed family budgets and that fairness to employees, waste and Britain remain similar to last year.

The factsheet shows Sainsbury’s has identified five characteristics of ‘new-fashioned’ values:

  • Savvy sustainability – customers are showing a growing tendency to save and splash out and they also still want to live well.
  • Values re-evaluated – evidence suggests a genuine deepening of values. The economic downturn is not an excuse to abandon issues such as animal welfare, fair-trade or sustainability, even in economy products.
  • Act for me – People have greater, more exacting expectations of companies. “They probe deeper for answers and, largely through digital media, they are far better informed than ever before,” says the report.
  • Health – is now a mainstream consumer issue, “although people are still seeking healthier rather than the healthiest options.”
  • Close to me – While global issues have become increasingly complex and difficult, people are placing greater importance on local matters, “because doing so gives them a greater sense of control and trust.” Customers are also showing more interest than ever in supporting charities and community causes. They are putting more importance on ‘being a good neighbour’ and expect businesses with which they deal to do the same, both locally and nationally.

It also covers how Sainsbury’s is meeting the needs of the new-fashioned shopper, through helping consumers to live the way they want to live and making it easier for them to buy what they need. Making sure customers can be confident about the quality, value and integrity of the products, irrespective of price or range.

Read more …

ANZCO starts energy management programme

One of New Zealand’s largest exporters is set to save more than $2 million a year and enhance its global reputation as a sustainable producer through a company-wide energy management programme.

The Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority’s EECA Business announced yesterday it would support the initiative over two years to help meat processor and exporter ANZCO generate long-term energy savings in its New Zealand plants.

With annual sales of $1.25 billion, ANZCO Foods Ltd processes and markets New Zealand beef and lamb products around the world. The firm employs over 3,000 staff world-wide and has 11 meat processing plants in New Zealand.

This programme will target a reduction in its processing plant energy use by 25 gigawatt hours (GWh), returning ongoing annual savings of $2.45 million after two years.

EECA Business general manager Ian Niven says that making better use of its energy will provide far-reaching benefits for the company and congratulated the company on its vision.

“Globally New Zealand is recognised for sustainably produced, premium quality meat products. And energy efficiency is one of the best ways to strengthen environmental credentials.

“By taking a lead in energy efficiency, ANZCO is making significant energy cost savings and signaling to its customers that it is committed to sustainable production,” he says.

Mark Clarkson, ANZCO Foods.

ANZCO managing director, Mark Clarkson says the programme will deliver on many levels for the company.

“Sustainability is key to the ANZCO brand and we are always looking for new ways to build on our reputation for environmentally responsible production, so reducing energy costs is a priority.”

The programme involves the establishment of a group-wide energy management plan, led by a team responsible for putting in place up to $5 million of identified energy efficiency projects.

With the assistance of one of EECA Business’ industrial programme partners, ANZCO will set up a system to help keep the programme on-track, measure efficiency outcomes, and develop case studies for a number of the projects.

Ian Niven says management commitment is key to the programme achieving its objectives.

“From the Board of Directors through to site operations, ANZCO leadership has indicated it wants to foster a culture of efficient energy use throughout the company.

“Such commitment is important to the success of making enduring improvements to energy management.”

EECA Business funding of up to $450,000 will be made available in stages upon achievement of various programme milestones.

Beef industry stamps footprint

The government recently announced that it will not sign up for new commitments under the Kyoto Protocol when the treaty’s first commitment period expires at the end of next year. However, this does not mean the meat industry’s sustainability focus will lessen, or that this country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation efforts for the primary sector are not important.
In August, the New Zealand Beef Footprint study was released highlighting beef productivity gains and giving New Zealand’s beef processors and exporters the comprehensive information they need for their customers about the meat’s carbon footprint.
Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Tim Ritchie says that his organisation had supported the study because sustainability is still a critical issue in important markets.
“While it is possibly not as front-of-mind in markets as it was two or three years ago, sustainability remains very important and greenhouse gas emissions are a key component of sustainability.”
The study has created a benchmark for understanding where greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are occurring across the beef supply chain, including production, processing, transportation and consumption.It has found that the majority (over 90 percent) of emissions occur on the farm. The footprint varies depending on the type of farm, the sex and age of the animals and whether or not animals from the dairy industry are used.
Overall, the weighted New Zealand average GHG emissions from beef animals from sheep and beef farms was 10.5kg CO2-equvalents (CO2-e) per kg of liveweight.Emissions arising from transport to market are extremely low.
Transport accounts for 4.2 percent of emissions, the report shows. In particular, oceanic shipping is very efficient and this study shows it contributes just 1.1-2.7 percent of the total carbon footprint.In addition, consumption accounts for 3.3 percent of emissions while just 2.1 percent comes from processing, which the report notes “is an area over which industry has direct control and where technologies are available to reduce emissions.”
Dr Stewart Ledgard, the lead author of the report says that until there is a globally-agreed methodology for ‘footprinting’ of meat products, it is hard to assess how New Zealand’s footprint compared to others. This study used the Life Cycle Assessment approach, which is consistent with the PAS2050 published standard for GHG footprinting.The beef study was undertaken by AgResearch and funded by the Meat Industry Association, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Landcorp and the Ministry for Primary Industries greenhouse gas footprinting strategy. B+LNZ Ltd and individual meat processors provided data and information for the study. This adds to a study already completed on New Zealand lamb’s carbon footprint in 2010.

More reading: see ‘A Greenhouse Gas Footprint Study for Exported New Zealand Beef’, M Lieffering, S Ledgard, M Boyes & R Kemp, February 2012.

This article appeared in Food NZ magazine (December 2012/January 2013).

NZ venison producers win supreme M&S award

Though it hasn’t been officially announced as yet, it seems that Hawke’s Bay deer farmers Tim Aitken and Lucy Robertshawe have taken out the Champion of Champions trophy in this year’s Marks and Spencer (M&S) Farming for the Future awards.

The Tikokino venison producers are said to have received a text from the gala dinner informing them and they are now awaiting the official confirmation of the “huge news”. They were earlier announced as the winners of the hard-fought  International Producer section in September, which pitched them into a public vote for the supreme Champion of Champions award against winners of the England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland producer categories.

“Having been judged by the company and its customers as the most sustainable farm of five finalists, representing Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, is a huge endorsement of the farming systems and philosophies we have developed over the years” says a proud Tim Aitken.

Aitken and Robertshawe are members of the Firstlight Venison Producer Group, a select group of deer farmers who work together to supply a small number of global producers supplying high-end retail customers like M&S. The British retailer strongly values sustainable production of the products it stocks and requires all suppliers to meet a set of environmental sustainability, animal welfare and ethical criteria known as ‘Plan A’. The annual awards aim to promote best practice throughout the supply chain and recognise those farmers who are making improvements to the sustainability of their business.

Commenting on the international category award on the Firstlight Foods website, Steve McLean, M&S head of agriculture and fisheries sourcing said that there were more than 50 entries this year for the international category and the standard was really high. “Our international entries came from a diverse range of businesses including fruit, vegetable and meat producers, in countries as winde-ranging as Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Thailand and New Zealand.”

The M&S judges were particularly impressed with the Aitken/Robertshawe entry, McLean said: “For the work they have done on enhancing the natural environment and water quality on their farm, for their involvement in R&D to improve the New Zealand venison industry and for their approach to animal welfare. They were also impressed that Tim and Lucy were sharing their knowledge with the wider farming community and had no hesitation in presenting them with the International M&S Farming for the Future award.”

Federated Farmers president Bruce Willis says the couple are excellent examples of Kiwi farmers leading the way on sustainable farming.

“Having the technical aspects of their business being judged was one thing, but winning the champion of champions award shows these people and their business really won the hearts and minds of a discerning British public who supported them in the popular vote.”

Willis is urging all New Zealand farmers to follow their example, “lead the world in innovative animal welfare and environmental management and to enter awards to let the world see the great work we are doing.”

The couple have won numerous previous awards including the Silver Fern Farms Hawke’s Bay Farmers of the Year and a New Zealand Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) award for environmental and sustainable management in 2010. Their property, ‘The Steyning’ in Central Hawke’s Bay, has featured in the Focus Farms programme and Aitken is a producer representative on the NZDFA board.

Many congratulations to them both!

 

‘Meating’ the plastic challenge

A series of challenges has been thrown out to the plastics industry to develop packaging that will help the meat industry maintain high food safety standards, increase shelf-life and develop new products.

The meat industry is one of this country’s biggest users of plastic, particularly in the form of packaging that keeps products safe, fresh and looking great right to through to the customer.

Speaking to the Plastics New Zealand conference in Queenstown in May, Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie outlined where he thought future opportunities lay for the material.

He told delegates that the meat industry has been very responsive to market demands and there has been a very significant change in the business model over the last 25 to 30 years. Trade has moved from sending frozen carcases – which, early on, were simply stockingetted and later shrink-wrapped for shipping – to the UK, to now sending chilled and frozen cuts and ready-prepared products to more than 115 markets around the world, with a growing focus on the Asian region, he explained.

“Now, we are in the business of directly servicing supermarkets with quality, consumer-ready cuts of meat, produced and packaged at source in New Zealand.

The industry is now in the ‘disassembly’ process, exporting and marketing the ‘bits’ around the world so as to maximise value, he said, adding that “a steadily increasing proportion of trade is high value chilled product.”

Ritchie said that plastics are widely used in the production process, covering products such as clips, liners, covers, containers, crates and pallets, “ensuring that processes are as clean as possible while meeting the needs of industrial production for items that are lightweight and resilient.”

There is a need to ensure their biodegradability and detectability. “But the greatest opportunities for the future of plastics in the meat industry are probably in packaging,” he said.

Areas of opportunity lie in safety, shelf-life, environmental sustainability and, finally, product quality and presentation. Reducing costs and lifting efficiencies are also part of the equation.

A growing volume of New Zealand meat is chilled and it is vacuum-packaged and sometimes CO2-gas flushed.  “The use of barrier bags and gas flushing were important steps in the evolution of our business.”

New packaging that contains anti-bacterial agents, such as ‘biophages’, and ‘smart packaging’ which can identify changes in the product and alert consumers if there is a problem, are two new areas where manufacturers can assist the meat industry to maintain high food safety standards, according to Ritchie.

Shelf-life is another area which has become even more important especially for the perishable chilled meat trade, as the global shipping industry moves towards greater use of ‘slow-steaming’, which increases transit times and reduces the remaining shelf life of products once they get to market. He noted that packaging companies already working on solutions with shelf-life enhancing properties.

In addition, consumers are increasingly demanding environmental sustainability, which means reduced and/or recyclable packaging. Food waste, identified as a major problem especially by the European Union, is also an issue.

“But a significant amount also occurs after purchase and here packaging can be part of the problem,” Ritchie says. Packaging sizes for single or fewer portions, for example, or re-sealable and compartmentalised packages can help limit unnecessary waste.

“And then there are bio-plastics, such as those being made from meat by-products.”

It is not just being satisfied ourselves that all is sustainable and safe, said Ritchie. “We need to be able to demonstrate it to the consumer and retailer, who is often proxy for the consumer in this business.

“Plastics can play an increasing role in helping with food safety, extending product shelf-life, improving attractiveness and ease-of-use by consumers. At the same time, our industry increasingly needs products that are environmentally sustainable, with recyclable or biodegradable attributes,” he concluded.

“And of course, anything your industry can do to help us take cost out of the system and improve operational efficiency will be welcomed.”

This article has appeared in Food New Zealand magazine (October/November 2012).

Sustainable Business Network: awards open

Do you have a sustainable champion or project in your organisation?

If you do, or know someone who does, then you’ll be interested to learn that nominations are open for three national awards in this year’s NZI National Sustainable Business Network (SBN) Awards: Social Innovation Award, Sustainability Champion Award and Sustainable Design and Innovation Award.

The NZ National SBN Awards, now in their ninth year, are New Zealand’s pre-eminent sustainability awards, SBN chief executive Rachel Brown says, adding that anyone can nominate individuals or organisations in these three open categories.

“We really encourage people to put their thinking caps on and put forward names of people and organisations that deserve recognition for their efforts in sustainability,” she says.

“The awards recognise leaders in social innovation and individuals who are chamipioning sustainability and new sustainable market solutions. They support savvy organisations that are reshaping their business models for a more sustainable New Zealand. It’s easy to nominate someone via our website and entry is free!”

The awards will be presented at a ceremony at The Cloud, Queen’s Wharf, Auckland on 22 November 2012.

Entries close on Friday 26 October 2012.

For more information or to nominate a person, organisation or companies for these awards click here.

New blueprint for sustainable beef production

A new blueprint that potentially could be used for sustainable beef production in New Zealand has recently been brought into reality in Brazil and is being trialled in tropical northern Australia. However, its usefulness in temperate zones as a sole certification stamp is being questioned by one sustainability expert.

A group of four cattle ranches in Brazil, Fazenda São Marcelo Ltda, has just been announced as the first to earn Rainforest Alliance certification under a new standard – Standard for Sustainable Cattle Production Systems – developed and first published in July 2010 by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN).

The ranches all met a rigorous set of standards that promote the humane treatment of livestock, the conservation of natural resources and the rights and well-being of workers. The standards were developed by SAN in response to the vast destruction of rainforest that results from cattle farming. IMAFLORA – the SAN representative in Brazil – carried out the certification.

According to Amaldo Eljinsk, chief executive of Grupo JD which manages the enterprise, the standards support the company’s values and management approach, helping it add value to its products, stay ahead of trends and attract buyers.

IMAFLORA is promoting the cattle certification programme in Brazil through its work with other local non-governmental organisations (NGOs, including Amigos da Terra), government agencies and international NGOs (including the National Wildlife Federation).

The current standard covers a summary of the principle of an integrated cattle management system, sustainable range and pasture management, animal welfare, reducing the carbon footprint and additional environmental requirements.

Input from sustainable standards expert Kevin O’Grady of Pinnacle Consulting, in the early stages of the standard, enabled the change of rules to allow the use of natural hormone replacement and de-horning. Since that time, O’Grady, who previously worked in the New Zealand meat industry, has been involved with the development of the standard and its trials in Northern Australia. He has been looking at the feasibility of extending it into temperate regions such as other parts of Australia and New Zealand.

“The way Rainforest Alliance works is that specific clients, such as McDonald’s in the specific case of South America, adopt the standard and suppliers then have to follow it,” he explains.

However, it would take a lot to adapt the standard for temperate zones and some of the issues for tropical farming , like tree cover and protecting livestock from predators, are not relevant, he says.

O’Grady also questions the advantage of this sort of standard for the New Zealand meat industry. “Many customers’ suppliers and investors are looking to independent certification to mitigate reputational risk so it’s not just about meeting a certification requirement for a customer like MacDonald’s.”

Want to find out more? Contact Kevin O’Grady.