Committed towards supporting the local food and beverage sector adapt to initiating measurable ESG initiatives, help gain investor confidence and generate much needed foreign revenue, PwC Sri Lanka recently concluded a successful and thought-provoking webinar titled “ESG towards a responsible future in the Food and Beverage Industry”.
Participated by decision makers in the food and beverage industry and showcasing insights from top industry professionals in the sector, the webinar examined how food and beverage companies in the country are performing on sustainability issues and what they need to do in building an ESG framework to meet the future market requirements.
Zahra Cader, ESG Leader and Director for PwC Sri Lanka, outlined that given all relevant stakeholder groups of influence and regulators are placing greater emphasis upon ESG, it requires to be a strategic priority for the food and beverage sector. A clear and transparent ESG policy embedded across the entire business will play a big part in framing a company's identity and on how well an organization serves it’s stakeholder needs, she said.
Keynote speakerSuresh de Mel, Chairman & Chief Executive EDB stated that the global food and beverage industry is slated to grow to U$S 6.4 trillion, with an annual growth rate of 10 per cent. He said the Sri Lankan food and beverage sector given their global popularity, is in a good position to make use of this surge in demand, that in turn will help generate large amounts of foreign revenue to uplift the economy.
Sebastiaan Nijhuis, Advisory Leader Finance Sustainability-PwC Netherlands, emphasizing what ESG means for the Sri Lankan Food and Beverage industry said that corporate boards will face rising pressure in being adequately equipped to understand and oversee ESG issues. This will bring increasing convergence on transparency that will require to be backed by data, metrics and reporting requirements, alongside rising pressure to ensure these metrics measure impact, not just inputs.
Sandeep Kumar Mohanty, Partner-ESG Strategy, PwC India, provided insights on what sustainability in manufacturing means for the food and beverage sector in Sri Lanka. He noted supply chain management in food and beverage firms now needs to shift from an operational activity to a strategic activity. He added that developing an understanding of the drivers and barriers to sustainable supply chain management in food and beverage manufacturing is important. Impacts linked to cost-effectiveness and increased competitiveness by the reduction of toxic emissions and through recycled materials, renewable energy, eco-friendly products and services, energy and water consumption and asset efficiency were key contingencies to consider.
The panel discussion that followed the presentations concentrated on how companies should develop ESG strategies in the food and beverage sector. Joining the speakers for the panel discussion were Anil Cooke-Chairman Ceylon Tea Roadmap 2030 and Dhammika Gunasekara, Past President Sri Lanka Food Processors' Association.
Mr. Gunasekara said the industry consists of SME’s requiring support to transit to ESG and multinationals that have already begun the journey. “Business resilience is at the heart of a sustainable business operation and an effective ESG strategy will help enforce that resilience and ensure commercial success for the industry “he added.
Mr.Cooke emphasized the importance of the industry coming together to navigate the path to ESG. He cited the successful example of all the tea industry stakeholders coming under one banner to design a 10- year Master Plan for the industry, adding that the importance lies in designing products for which consumers are willing to pay a premium. “They want to do business with companies that have a heart and soul and a vision and purpose that make commitments to people and our planet, and we need to live up to those commitments,” he stated.
The overall takeaway was that a key agenda be put in place for the industry to collectively embrace and implement sustainability as an enabler for growth.