From nice-to-have to must-have, DuPont shares why sustainable business practices are becoming the food industry’s new best friend.

1. AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018 FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA
S
ustainable initiatives used
to be the nice-to-have, feel-
good add-on that businesses
could take on board when their
budgets were on target and
pro ts secure – only to cut them away again if
short-term nancial results fell short. Today,
the food industry in Southeast Asia and the
rest of the world has every reason to think
otherwise: that sustainability is an integrated
and necessary part of business success.
In the 2018 GlobeScan Sustainability Leaders
Survey, the highest ranking business is a
multinational food company. Two more food
companies are in the top ten. According
to the survey respondents, companies like
these are today’s corporate leaders. Their
implementation of sustainable principles has
long-term bene ts for the world, its people
and business pro ts.
Industry with Impact
When you think about it, the fact that several
food companies rank so highly is exactly
how it should be. After all, food and the food
industry represent 30% of all human-induced
greenhouse gasses, and around 30% of the
food we produce goes to waste. Whether
you look at resource consumption, carbon
emissions or human quality of life, the food
industry has a major impact – from the
producers of consumer goods to the suppliers
of ingredients and other raw materials.
So, while it is mainly the business-to-
consumer companies that stand out in the
GlobeScan survey, sustainable development
is equally important to ingredient suppliers
like DuPont Nutrition & Health. The objective
is both to satisfy the demands of food
manufacturers and to drive sustainability
requirements further along the food value
chain. For company employees, an ethical
and environmentally friendly philosophy is
also a highly motivating force.
Live the Sustainable Vision
Securing the future of the planet and
su cient supplies of safe and healthy food
for the growing population are established
themes on the global agenda. In Southeast
Asia, the ASEAN Vision 2000 has set the
agenda for clean and green development
since 1997.
The vision was reinforced when the UN
launched its 17 sustainable development
goals (SDGs) in 2015. According to the World
Economic Forum, the SDGs present Southeast
Asia with an unprecedented opportunity to
live the vision. By encouraging companies
to shift their focus from individual issues to
a more multi-faceted approach, the SDGs
provide a template for sustainable business
development.
a Good Food Business
Feeds on Sustainability
From nice-to-have to must-have, DuPont shares why sustainable business practices
are becoming the food industry’s new best friend.
By Dr. Mikkel Thrane, Global Sustainability Lead, and Mr. Niels Erik Larsen, Principal Dairy Application Specialist, DuPont Nutrition & Health
As one of the world’s largest seaweed buyers, DuPont actively promotes
sustainable harvesting and cultivating practices throughout the industry.
(Image credit: DuPont)
INGREDIENTS 23

2. INGREDIENTS24
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018
School Milk in China
DuPont has worked proactively with
sustainable development for several decades.
As far back as 1981, the Chinese government
called upon Danish dairy expertise to develop
a plan that would secure milk supplies to the
entire Chinese population. Danish Turnkey
Dairies – now part of DuPont – provided the
experts who were put in charge of the project.
Some of the key ndings were that China’s
large pasture areas should increase their
milk production. Surplus milk from the peak
seasons would then be dried, ready for
reconstitution during the seasons when milk
production was low. This made it possible to
ensure milk supplies to Chinese consumers
all year round. DuPont has since assisted the
Chinese authorities with the development
of stable UHT milk products for the national
school milk programme, which provides
all pupils with a daily source of important
nutrients.
Sourcing Sustainable Palm
One of the hottest sustainable sourcing topics
for more than a decade has been palm oil.
The stories are well known about the large
palm oil plantations that have grown up at
the expense of Malaysian and Indonesian
rainforests, wildlife and local people. It
was for this reason that many businesses,
including DuPont, joined the Roundtable
on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the multi-
stakeholder initiative that has established a
certi cation system for sustainably produced
palm oil.
In Penang, Malaysia, all the palm-based
emulsi ers produced at the DuPont plant
are today RSPO-certi ed – which means they
are either based on segregated sustainable
palm oil or covered by RSPO Book & Claim
certi cates. Although emulsi ers are only
used in small doses in food and beverage
recipes, the RSPO certi cation still makes
a di erence to the growing number of food
companies in the region that have pledged
to use palm oil from sustainable sources.
Overall, the DuPont sustainable sourcing
program covers 90% of the raw materials
used in the production of its bio-based
ingredients.
Seaweed Collaboration
Seaweed is another interesting raw material,
used for the production of the gelling and
thickening agents alginate and carrageenan.
For this year’s World Oceans Day, held in June,
DuPont launched a new seaweed programme
in collaboration with the Anderson Cabot
Center for Ocean Life at the New England
Aquarium in Boston, USA. The aim is to
encourage more sustainable harvesting and
cultivating practices throughout the industry.
As one of the world’s largest seaweed
buyers, DuPont has for decades worked with
thousands of seaweed farmers in Southeast
Asia, the Western Indian Ocean and Norway
Image credit: iStock.com/Rawpixel

3. INGREDIENTS
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018 FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA
25
DuPont is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). (Image credit: Shutterstock.com/Szefei)
on sustainable approaches to planting,
growing and harvesting seaweed – an
approach now reinforced by the seaweed
program.
Resource-Saving Solutions
Sustainable sourcing of raw materials gives
a responsible supply chain the very best
start. Sustainable ingredient solutions, on
the other hand, are designed to help food
manufacturers make the very best use of their
resources and to reduce food waste.
Protective cultures are a case in point. Used
in fresh and white cheese and yoghurt, they
are a clean-label way to extend shelf life by
up to three times – reducing food waste in the
process. Tailored enzyme solutions for bread
products have a similar e ect, slowing down
staling so consumers are more likely to eat a
whole bread loaf instead of just part.
Some solutions come packaged in a complete
concept, such as the DuPont concept for
ambient yoghurt. By eliminating the need
for a cold chain, the concept is ideal for
manufacturers that want to distribute their
products over longer distances and to stores
and consumers where refrigerators are not
always available. That brings healthy dairy
products to areas where they may not already
be – by transport that is lower on energy
consumption as no cooling is required.
A Smaller Carbon Footprint
By improving resource utilisation and cutting
waste, ingredient solutions enable food
manufacturers to avoid several hundred
kilos of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2
e) in
their value chain for each kilo of ingredient
they use. DuPont has set a goal to avoid
annual emissions of 15 million tons of CO2
e
in customer value chains by 2020.
For all producers in the food supply chain,
there are good nancial and environmental
reasons for cutting the consumption of
energy and water and carbon emissions
from their own production plants. Many are
already implementing plans for their gradual
transition to renewable energy, for recycling
more and reducing waste, and for improving
the sustainability of packaging and logistics,
for example.
Everything to Gain
Proactive sustainability e orts at DuPont aim
to ful l the company’s commitment to the
UN SDG agenda. A big part of that is about
being a responsible supplier in the entire food
chain. In Southeast Asia, as with everywhere,
DuPont must satisfy the sustainability
requirements of large multinational food
companies as well as local manufacturers.
The SDGs show that there is everything
to gain from operating a sustainable food
business. Sustainably sourced, resource-
optimising ingredient solutions are a good
place to begin.